Rosleague Manor Hotel

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!

04/07/2026

04/07/2026

We hosted some Ladies from Carrig Donn recently for a photo shoot and had agreed an auld Quid pro quo on some images.

To be honest I was half hoping the all female cast might require some rough around the edges , showing signs of Patina, male model goodness .
So I hung around all morning which Lorna will assure you is not the norm.
I even re-appeared early afternoon with an alternative look featuring copius amounts of sawdust and a fetching pair of chaps.....only to discover they'd all fallen in love with the dog version of Robert Redford - sure I'd no chance , that fe**er looks handsome whatever the angle or mood!

Thank you ladies for sharing the pics!

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!

30/05/2026

I was chatting with my good friend , the ever wise beyond his years Shane Young the other day.
About how blessed I was feeling reflecting on the crew we've opened with this year and that it may be the best in 28 years of re-re-awakening the old Girl.
However I was finding it hard to enjoy it , as I was afraid something would come out of left field to mess it all up..... Well he says , whats the point in suffering through the tough times, if you can't enjoy the good times when they arrive!

As everyone with any connection to the trade is well aware , the last 5+ years have been the toughest to recruit for the kitchen team and it hasn't gotten much easier.
Yet here I am with unquestionably the best Kitchen team we've had in all my years & like all the best teams - they've had a few seasons together to fine tune their game.
Thanks to Shane, I'm determined to try and enjoy it.

Luckily I'm reminded by our Guests on a daily basis during Breakfast & Dinner service as well as checkout, but the real gifts are in the lack of constant stress, along with having the confidence to take some time away with the kids or messing around with the chainsaws on the latest projects - more to follow on that!

So a big thank you to the team and also to all our loyal guests for their kind words and to the likes of John Healy and many other regulars who scoffed and were rightfully horrified at the idea we would move to 6 nights a week permanently when recruitment was particularly challenging...

It taught me a very important & liberating lesson, that the food at Rosleague is far more important than I or even Jono will ever be, so I no longer stress or feel guilty about taking an evening off!