Kinnitty’s Christina is 'absolutely delighted' with travel awards boost

Ardmore Country House bed and breakfast in Kinnitty was one of three Offaly tourist offerings to be named in the top ten at the Irish Independent Reader Travel Awards, which were announced last weekend.

Joining Ardmore in the Top Ten in their respective categories in the Reader Travel Awards were Birr Castle & Gardens and Mid-Ireland Adventure & Slieve Bloom Mountain Bike Centre.

“I am absolutely delighted with this award, and it couldn’t have come at a better time with the lifting of Covid restrictions,” said an ecstatic Christina Byrne, who has been operating a bed and breakfast facility at her restored Georgian home in Kinnitty, at the foot of the Slieve Bloom mountains, for the past 26 years.

She thanked the many customers of Ardmore Country Home who voted for her in the Reader Travel Awards which saw her listed at number 3 in the Top 10 of Ireland’s Best B &B’s.

While acknowledging that the Covid restrictions were “very tough” for the tourism and hospitality sector, Christina said she is “all set and ready to go” and is looking forward to brighter times ahead.

“We have a lot of repeat business and we are also getting huge numbers of walking groups coming to us, and of course, we also have mountain bike hire so there is plenty to do in this part of Offaly,” she says.

Christina says she enjoys treating tourists to home-cooked food and “a real and authentic Irish welcome” and she is very grateful to be recognised in the Independent Reader Travel Awards.

Mid-Ireland Adventure & Slieve Bloom Mountain Bike Centre, which has two bases, one at the marina in Banagher and the second at the rear of Ardmore Bed and Breakfast in Kinnitty, was listed at number 9 in the Top Ten under the 'Best Activity Provider' category, while the renowned Birr Castle & Gardens came in at number 4 in the Top Ten of “Ireland’s Best Visitor Attraction.”