Rosleague Manor Hotel

12/09/2026

12/09/2026

Mother Nature Rewards!

So after sorting out some fairly serious plumbing issues Thursday morning, I felt the forest calling and decided to reward myself by spending the rest of the day on the headland.

Storm Ewoyn as well as flattening or beheading large sections of sitka, has opened up new corridors for the wind.
So the maintenance is fairly constant and on the plus side, so is the addition of new light - leading to the recovery & return of mosses, mushrooms, ferns , while the Birch and Mountain Ash are gradually turning from choked, spindly skeletons to proper trees , chock full of new growth.

Finished up and figured I'd better give the kids some time before dark, so suggested a spot of fishing off the pier below for No 2 and a swim to entice the more retiscent No 1 , mercifully they both agreed, while Jono was already waiting in the car!

As we rolled up and Jono did his best swan dive into the bay , the rain & breeze were fairly hoirizontal.
But I could see the tiniest sliver of blue sky out the bay behind the headland. So I told the swimmer to sit tight for 10 minutes while the fisherman and myself dropped in a line, in the hope of adding to the first mackeral we caught in our bay in my 28 years here.

So the sky continued to lighten, but I thought it was just a bit too late for the Sun to make an appearance above the horizon, as the clouds made space.
Boy was I wrong, just as we were getting in - there it was, right on the crest of the penninsula I'd been working on all day, like a giant orange thank you, for trying my best to heal the headland.
The cherry on top as she dropped behind the trees was to be out in the middle of the bay with No 1 as 'The Diamond' & surrounding hills turned from orange to pink and it seemed everythjing around us was glowing for an all too fleeting moment.

I asked the crew in the kitchen who are outdoing themselves on a weekly basis, to take a few pics of the wonderfully seasonal Venison & Panna Cotta. No more than my own efforts, the pics really do not do the produce , care & creation justice but seriously Tasty!

26/08/2026

And now for something actually Hotel related ....

Our Autumn 'Added Value' mid-week specials are now available and it's very heartening to see so many regulars requesting them and booking in from Sunday September 27th - Thursday October 29th.
Book our 2 nights B&B 1 Dinner package Sunday thru Thursday and get a complimentary 2 course meal Dinner included on the 2nd night.
Book our 3 nights B&B , 2 Dinner package and avail of an extra 4th nights B&B.
Thank you.

26/08/2026

One of the really cool things about having a Lifetimes worth of timber and picking up a few skillz along the way ..... Is that you can think of the people in your life who have been good to you, without ever asking for a return of favour and decide to try and make them something nice, just because!
One such person in my life is my long, long, long, suffering Sister in Law, Lisa Keane who has to dance a merry dance between her Husband and I, trying to keep some order, shape on these old family business'.
I call her 'The Glue' in our Family & she is most definitely worthy of a dedicated post of her own unlittered with my own ego boosting wood projects, but this will have to do for now.

Needless to say there is quite a small list of folk for whom I would commit to the amount of epoxy work & sanding on this one off.

Had just about enough fun at the Brother's expense for one day....so edited out one pic.

04/08/2026

Housekeeping help required.
On site training provided.
Full time preferred.
Accomodation/Private Room Available.

Please email [email protected] or call/message 0876893199.

31/07/2026

So 'Field of Dreams' is one of my all time favourite movies to the point I pretty much adopted - 'If you Build it, They will Come' as my mantra in business and mercifully it hasn't served us too badly.

On another recent visit to John Nee's little gem of a 'General store' in Renvyle Village with the young fella, I was trying to think of a way to describe it best, to get across the wonder of finding such a place, still existing and thriving in a 1st world at least, that has sadly & tragically left these kinds of places behind.

It dawned on me that James Earl Jones magnificent speech towards the end of the movie, summed up the feelings it evoked beautifully!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SB16il97yw

Many locals will fondly remember a similar stop off for petrol, groceries, animal feed, wellies, stockings Post Office and whatever else a fella or Lady might need at Acton's in Moyard, long before the middle isle in Lidl was a thing...these places are gone or mostly going and they aren't coming back.

So be you generational local, blow in or tourist - if you find yourselves on the Renvle penninsula in need of some of the best bedding plants you'll find anywhere, some fishing tackle, paint, plant food or about a million other things and if they're not on view, there's always more 'out the back'.

Like all the best places, signage is neither required , nor present so its just opposite Rogan's petrol station & shop where you can fill up, grab coffee & snack and head down to Tully Pier for a dip to experience another absolute local gem.

Bring your grandparents for the best touchstone memories of similar spots all over the country and bring your kids and just allow them to dig and explore in there, its feckin magic!

23/07/2026

Just in case anyone was considering dipping their toes into some animal husbandry/righting some wrongs & genuinely one of the most rewarding things you can do, with a payoff of the best, least processed & freshest food in the world from your garden?
Littlehill have more hens than homes for this weekends deliveries, we've 18-24 more inbound , it goes without saying the alternative for these poor birds is best left unmentioned, but it is grim.....

HEN RESCUE SATURDAY JULY 25th

This is our last push to try and find homes for these poor little hens, who will be brought for slaughter next week if we can't save them. We will bring as many as we can, but our space is limited, so some will inevitably be left behind to their fate.

Please, please, please, if you can offer a forever coop to two or more of these little hennies, who are still laying their little hearts out, PRIVATE MESSAGE us with your PHONE NUMBER, COLLECTION POINT and the number of hens you can help us save.

We are just heartbroken at the thought of what will happen to these girls, who made lots of money for the farm they're coming from. We ask for an adoption fee to try and cover some of the huge costs involved in this rescue operation, and we can't do it without YOUR help!

Here are the collection points:

‼️SATURDAY 25th JULY :
ARDEE - ATHENRY - ATHLONE - BALLINASLOE - BLESSINGTON - CARRICKMACROSS - CAVAN TOWN - DROGHEDA- LONGFORD - LOUGHREA - SWORDS - TALLAGHT - TULLAMORE

Thanks to everyone who helps.

23/07/2026

The girls in the Blue Book office love reminding me that I live in one of the most beautiful Blue Book properties in one of the most stunning parts of the world , maybe consider posting a few more pics - even just take a quick one on the way into work.

So today 2 great lines from the movies randomly popped into my head as I meandered in...

Anyone from my generation & older had to admire the coolness and effortless presence of Robert Duvall in life, but especially in Apocalypse Now - 'I love the small of Na**lm in the Morning, smells like ..... VICTORY!'
Thank god for him & Ed Harris for showing me bald men can still be cool!
Well I love the smell of freshly cut grass in the morning , smells like Summer...... & what a Summer we're having!

Jono of course is the one who reminds me every morning to try and look at the world through his innocent, joyful, empathetic eyes.

So here he is in his best , 'YOU SHALL NOT PASS' pose- Another absolute legendary line from Lord of the Rings series , from the gift that is Sir Ian McKellan - just daring you to pass without a rub, chat or better still to absolutely make his day with a walk to the shore & a swim as the cherry on top.

Your Surrogate dog and or tour guide awaits every morning!

16/06/2026

I mentioned in an earlier post that the Fox Gloves were lookin promising, well holy god was that an understatement - they're putting on an awesome display and most encouragingly they've popped up in waves right beneath the massive holes in the canopy left by our old friend, Storm Ewoyn.
The tallest one next to Jono is well over 8 ft!
With each passing day and rambles through the forest with Jono, its becoming more & more evident that these once in a generation storms are a crucial part or Mother Natures cycle, clearing out the dead, diseased natives & Evergreens stealing all the light.

Some of these must have been in a kind of stasis, because neither Dermot nor I had seen them before & whats really cool is I can see exactly the same response where I cleared some of our adjoining Coillte planted
Sitka Spruce to re-instate a fire break, all the trees nearby with new leaf, ferns & mushrooms popping up, where previously there was only layers of bloody pine needles.

Love the juxdaposition of the massive 3-4Ft stump that nearly wiped out meself (Saw) & Eugene Barry (Digger) in tandem, trying to disentangle it from the trees it hung up in V's these delicate beauty's - another pay off from all the necessary destruction.

Growth of natives planted in the main forest is off the hook, some Wagon remarked a few years back that it was very 'open', like you can see through it..... I bit my tongue knowing time, determination & perseverance were on my side - well not anymore my dear.

40 years ago when it was thick with evergreens & Rhody, as kids we christened it the Deep Dark Forest, its getting quite dark again in there, which is massively encouraging!