2008 Award Winners

• Hotel of the Year 2008
  The Merrion Hotel
  This fine hotel in the heart of Georgian Dublin comprises four meticulously restored Grade 1 listed townhouses built in the 1760s and, behind them, a contemporary garden wing overlooks formal land ...
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• Restaurant of the Year 2008
  Deanes Restaurant
  A highly coveted award - for restaurateurs, chefs and front of house staff – this category attracts an exceptionally diverse range of establishments,  ranging from bustling city restaur ...
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• Chef of the Year 2008
  Paul Flynn - The Tannery
  This much coveted title goes to a widely respected chef – and a previous winner of the Guide’s  Restaurant of the Year Award (2004).  Already recognised as a special talent i ...
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• Pub of the Year 2008
  The Olde Glen Bar
  Just the sort of old pub advertising people dream about, the McLaughlin family’s bar looks as it must have a hundred, maybe two hundred years ago: low ceilings, ancient weathered bar and fur ...
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• Feile Bia Award 2008
  Sponsored by Bord Bia
  The Chart House Restaurant
  Each year, in the Guide, we single out for the Féile Bia Award an establishment that we feel is interpeting the Féile Bia message especially well and not only putting into practice t ...
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• Seafood Restaurant of the Year 2008
  Sponsored by BIM
  O'Grady's on the Pier
  In a stunning position, with views over the harbour and beach to distant mountains, Michael O’Grady’s charming seafood restaurant is a lovely spot on a fine summer’s day, with pr ...
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• Seafood Bar of the Year 2008
  Sponsored by BIM
  Mary Ann's Bar & Restaurant
  Our Seafood Bar of the Year is little short of a national treasure  - a pretty west Cork pub that is as old as it looks, going back to 1846, and has been  loved and well maintained in Fe ...
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• Food eXtra Award 2008
  Sponsored by Fáilte Ireland
  Enniscoe House
  This newly introduced award can perhaps be seen as a signpost to the way food and hospitality are developing in Ireland, as time-poor visitors – whether from other countries or travelling wi ...
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• Natural Food Award 2008
  Sponsored by Fáilte Ireland
  Jacques Restaurant
  The Natural Food Award has been an essential element of the Guide since it started and, by recognising an establishment or individual who pays special attention to sourcing the freshest and best l ...
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• Hideaway of the Year 2008
  Sponsored by Fáilte Ireland
  Coxtown Manor
  Everybody loves this welcoming late Georgian house which is just a short drive from the county town, yet quietly set in its own parkland in a lovely, peaceful area close to Donegal Bay. Belgian pr ...
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• Ethnic Restaurant of the Year 2008
  Sponsored by Blue Dragon
  Furama Restaurant
  Recent years have seen such an explosion of ethnic restaurants, now encompassing dozens of international cuisines - many of which would not have been at all familiar in Ireland a decade ago &ndash ...
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• Wine Award of the Year 2008
  Ashford Castle
  This year, establishments recommended by the Guide were invited to submit wine lists for competition and there were over 70 entries, ranging from the very grand to relatively simple lists;  m ...
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• Host of the Year 2008
  Martina Sheedy
  John and Martina Sheedy run one of the west of Ireland’s best-loved small hotels - it offers some of the most luxurious accommodation and the best food in the area, yet it still has the warm ...
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• Business Hotel of the Year 2008
  Clontarf Castle Hotel
  This 17th century castle is convenient to both the airport and city centre and, although is a pity that the grounds were given over to development some years ago, the hotel itself has been sensiti ...
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• Family Friendly Hotel of the Year 2008
  Ferrycarrig Hotel
  This stylish modern hotel is in a lovely location overlooking the Slaney estuary and has excellent amenities, including a superb health and fitness club. Unusually, all of the well-appointed bedro ...
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• Atmospheric Establishment of the Year 2008
  Hunters Hotel
  In these days of endless new developments, design-led hotels and a general air of ‘cool’, how refreshing it is to visit places untroubled by fashion. This much-loved hotel is one of ou ...
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• Newcomer of the Year 2008
  Inis Meáin Restaurant
  With about 150 new entries to the guide each year and a hugely promising long list to choose from, this is one of the most difficult awards to select. But this very special place kept coming up to ...
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• Country House of the Year 2008
  Echo Lodge
  What can be said about this wonderful place that has not been said before? Echo Lodge – actually an hotel but with a real country house feeling – is a place that envelops guests in its ...
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• Guesthouse of the Year 2008
  Whitepark House
  A warm welcome from chatty and well-informed hosts Bob and Siobhán Isles awaits visitors to this pretty old house which is tucked away in well-maintained gardens and has stunning views of W ...
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• B&B of the Year 2008
  McMenamins Townhouse
  We don’t know exactly what it is about Seamus and Kay McMenamin’s B&B, but we receive more letters heaping praise on this Wexford townhouse (and its delicious breakfasts), than any ...
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• Farmhouse of the Year 2008
  Castle Farm Country House
  Small is very definitely beautiful in rural tourism, and many guests would infinitely prefer to stay in the Nugent family’s unusual and wonderfully hospitable 18th century farmhouse (which i ...
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• IRISH BREAKFAST AWARDS 2008
  Sponsored by Rudd's
  • - National Winner
    Waterford Castle Hotel & Golf Club
    We all know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day and this is true in hospitality as well as ‘real life’.  Breakfast is the last meal guests will have before leavin ...
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  • - Hotel Breakfast of the Year 2008
    Waterford Castle Hotel & Golf Club
    Hotel breakfasts are often the least enjoyable part of a stay and, all too often, can obliterate the memory of an enjoyable meal the evening before – not so at a growing number of caring and ...
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  • - Country House Breakfast of the Year 2008
    The Old Convent Gourmet Hideaway
    Country houses do tend to make a speciality of breakfast, and Dermot and Christine Gannon set out to do something really special when they opened their ‘gourmet hideaway’ here, in one ...
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  • - Guesthouse Breakfast of the Year 2008
    Number 31
    Our winning guesthouse breakfast is to be found in an hospitable ‘oasis of tranquillity and greenery’ just off St Stephen’s Green, which has recently reopened after major refurbi ...
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  • - B&B Breakfast of the Year 2008
    Marble Hall
    First time visitors have no idea of the delights that lie ahead as they arrive at Shelagh Conway’s wonderful B&B, which is discreetly situated in a redbrick Georgian terrace. This warm a ...
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