The Irish Tiger: A Visit to Ireland’s Oldest Family-Run Inn

Currarevagh Country House, in Ireland's Oughtergard region.
Photo: Courtesy of Currarevagh Country House

The first thing you notice is the tiger. It’s not what you’d expect in this charming inn on the secluded side of a lake in Ireland’s County Galway, but it’s the indisputable centerpiece, a majestic hide lording over the dimly-lit entry hall from its place on a double-height staircase wall just above reception.

“An uncle of my great grandfather shot it in India,” explains Henry Hodgson, the proprietor of Currarevagh House, in whose foyer we stand gaping at the exotic prize. “He wasn’t even a hunter; he was there as an officer during the Raj, and in a fairly big village. We figure it must have been causing trouble -- you know, going after people. So he shot it.” Having no use for it in India, apparently, the generous uncle shipped it Westward to his innkeeper brother, likely assuming that it might make more of a statement in the quiet Irish country. If our reactions are any indication, he was quite right.

Such are the legends that abound in an historic space, and Currarevagh, nestled against Lough Corrib in Oughterard, Co. Galway, is nothing if not historic. In the hands of Hodgson’s family (who first arrived in the area in the early 1600s) since 1842, it’s thought to be the oldest operating single family-run inn in a country where family-run inns are hardly scarce. It is at once nearly unbelievably quaint and singularly quirky. Each time I felt the need to pinch myself, fearing I’d become an extra in a storybook depiction of an Irish country house, I was met with a fresh kick of unique personality.

That's Moher Like It

Exploring southwestern Ireland's spectacular Cliffs of Moher 

The Cliffs of Moher are a little bit like Ireland's Eiffel Tower. They're the iconic vista splashed across tourism books, over-saturated and reprinted until you'd think the sight of them in real life might actually be slightly disappointing. Well, it's not.

Eating My Way Through Scandinavia: Norrebro Bryghus, Copenhagen

The first night of our stay in Copenhagen we ate at the brewery in the “hip” neighborhood of Norrebro. I put “hip” in quotes here, because this is precisely how the neighborhood was described to my parents by our friendly concierge and subsequently, precisely how my parents insisted on referring to themselves throughout the evening for having ventured coolly into this Williamsburg of Scandinavia. Hip hop we went to the brewery where we selected a 5 course tasting menu which included a beer pairing with each course. Wether under the influence of jet-lag or delusions of hip-ness I can’t be sure, but it evidently did not occur to us that two members of our five person party do not, in fact, drink beer. True champions in the fight against wastefulness, my brother, father and I bravely accepted the challenge of imbibing 20 beers over a filling Nordic meal. (I’m expecting my medal any time). 

The brewery from above.

Shopping in Stockholm (/falling in love)

The Scandinavians are well known for their distinct and innovative sense of design, and this is certainly one of the reasons I was most excited to journey North. Before this trip my personal encounters with Swedish design were fairly limited to the mismatched Hanna Anderson outfits in which my mother dressed me regularly until the age of eleven. While I’d like to think my tastes have evolved beyond the stripe-on-inverted-stripe aesthetic of my onetime go-to label, I found that much of the same playful attitude imbues Swedish decor in the home. Here are some of the shops from which I found it the most difficult to not shoplift:

Svenskt Tenn:

Far and away the most beautiful store I visited in Stockholm, this enchanting world of decor was described by our Swedish guide as the “anti-Ikea.” The description was apt; for everything Ikea is bare-boned, minimal, and mass produced, the goods here are fanciful, ornate and elegant. Unfortunately, it is also everything Ikea is not in regards to market-cornering pricing. One day I’ll be able to afford a calfskin bench, but until then my Instagrams will have to tide me over. 

Leave it to the Swedes to create a festive contemporary update to Grandparents’ Beach House chic. 

Eating My Way Through Scandinavia: Oliver's Black Circus, Copenhagen

Oliver’s Black Circus, Copenhagen

For a restaurant whose slogan is “let’s be weird together,” Oliver’s Black Circus did not disappoint. Carefully concocted dishes of myriad locally-sourced ingredients made for a menu which sounded more like a garden catalogue than anything searchable on Seamless. I’m certainly no culinary master, but I had no idea that so many types of “root” could even be cooked.  But it won me over, roots and all. 

The scene:

The façade has a deer silhouette, so obviously I like it immediately. 

A Louisiana Better Than Mardi Gras

Denmark’s Louisiana Museum of Modern Art has newly ascended to the upper echelons of my favorite museums. Situated on the coast of the Øresund Sound with breathtaking views of neighboring Sweden, the building is deceptively expansive but still, as is the feat of so much of Scandinavian modernism, retains an aura of warmth. 

I’d heard a lot about the Louisiana, located a half hour train ride from Copenhagen in Humlebæk , but was surprised when we arrived to what looked more like a quaint country cottage than a top tier art institution. 

The entrance to the Louisiana.

Mad Stones

The latest installation in the Mad Sq. Art series is a breathtaking set of sculptures by Italian artist Giuseppe Penone. Elements in the series, titledIdeas of Stone (Idee di Pietra), are beautifully simple in form, yet harrowingly expressive. Using the weight of the stones, Penone manipulates branches of live trees, making them seem alternately exquisitely fragile and deceptively strong.

In his creations, Penone takes two natural elements and creates a decidedly unnatural situation, making us feel suspended in a strange, fantastical moment. Says the artist of his series, “A tree summarizes in an exemplary way the contrast between two forces: the force of gravity and the weight of life we are part of. The need and the search for balance, which exists in every living being to counteract the force of gravity, is evident in every step and in every small action of our lives. It is a river stone that appears amid the branches of a tree. A stone suspended amid the branches of a tree, separated from the soil by a structure that is not land and is not air, a stone that lies between the force of gravity and the force of the attraction of light.”

Giuseppe Penone in Madison Square Park

My favorite piece is this one, a delicately reaching tree balancing one stone between its branches while bowing under the weight of another, which pins its arm to the ground in a graceful arc. Triumphant and restrained, delicate and strong, it perfectly embodies Penone’s dual forces, and creates an exquisite silhouette against the park’s snowscape.