James & Emily
Kilkea Castle - Wedding Venue
Kilkea Castle is an incredible 12th century castle that has a rich history (more information here). It's our dream venue and we are so excited to share it with you all!
If you are going to be using the provided transportation, we will be arriving at the castle for check-in around 3 pm on Monday, June 15, and leaving around noon on Wednesday, June 17. This page has details on how to book your room at the castle using our booking code, dining options for dinner the night of the 15th before Welcome Drinks and for lunch the day of the wedding, and what to do while you are there!
For an overview of the hosted events at the castle, click here.
Tips from James & Em
We got back from our menu tasting in late March, and wanted to add some notes on things we think may be helpful to our guests! We also added some notes to the Dublin page as well.
If you have any questions, let us know!
Activities at the Castle
We mention this below, but if you want to do activities at the castle, you need to book them ahead of time as they fill fast! Even in the slower months, they only had a few activities slots available when we tried to book on arrival.
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Spa - If you want to do a treatment at the spa (we got a massage and HIGHLY recommend it!), you do get an hour in the thermal suite before, which is a pool, sauna, steam room, and cold plunge - bring your bathing suit for that! If you forget one, you can buy one in Dublin like we did. The spa also has a salon if anyone wants to get a blow out before the wedding.
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Golf - The pro shop only has a set number of clubs that guests can rent, if you would like to play and need to rent clubs, book ASAP. The course looks beautiful and the golf pros are lovely!
Dining
This is reiterated below, but be sure to book your dining at Hermione's for Monday night ahead of time, as it's not a huge restaurant and all of our guests will likely be eating around the same time! The food everywhere on the grounds is incredible, and the service is amazing.
Leaving the Castle
The transportation we are providing out of Kilkea will be leaving around 11am, getting everyone back into Dublin around 12:30pm. It will bring you to the Dublin city center, which is 25-30 mins from the airport. If you are flying out earlier than 4pm and flying back to the US, I would recommend arranging your own ride directly to the Dublin Airport. You have to go through US Preclearance (passport control and customs) to get on a US flight. It only took us about 30 minutes to go through security and US preclearance, but I've read a few horror stories of it taking upwards of 1.5hrs, and you typically board international flights 45 minutes before departure. The receptionists at Kilkea will help you arrange transportation - they have a local car service that can take you to the airport. You can email or call them ahead of time to get that set up, and they will go over the details and price. If there are a few people from our group leaving Kilkea around the same time, they will try to coordinate shared transportation.
How to Book Your Stay
There are a few options for rooms on the castle grounds, and breakfast is included in both rooms. Please keep in mind the room block ends 3 months in advance, so we recommend booking your stay ASAP at the castle - you can cancel up to 3 days prior, and no deposit is required.
Carriage Rooms
These rooms are in the courtyard of the Castle and are newly renovated. Some have outdoor entrances, and there are few rooms that connect into each other. Breakfast for these rooms is served at the 1180 Restaurant inside the castle. These rooms are €275 a night.
Booking Code: 223537
Lodge Rooms
These rooms are almost like little villas, a little down the path from the castle overlooking the golf course. There are 3-4 rooms per lodge (think standard hotel rooms), all with separate key cards and locks, with a communal lounge space. Even though this will mostly be like sharing a hallway in a hotel, we will still be working with the venue on making sure everyone staying in the same lodges know each other. Breakfast for these rooms is served at the Hermione's Restaurant on the golf course. These rooms are €215 a night.
Booking Code: 223537
Where to Eat
Breakfast is included in your rooms (see section above for details based on room type), and we will be serving dinner the night of the wedding, but we wanted to provide options for dinner before Welcome Drinks & lunch the day of the wedding. There are three onsite options listed below, but there are other pub type options a mile away in the local town of Castledermot if you have a car! If eating onsite at the Bistro or Hermione's, we recommend making reservations - you'll see links to book each of the dining options here.
Please Note: You'll notice on the website that there is a 4th option at the hotel called 1180 Restaurant, but unfortunately it will not be open for the wedding as it's only open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
The Keep
This is the castle bar located on the ground floor of the castle, offering tea, coffee, pastries, and drinks.
Tea & Coffee available from 11:00am - 3:00pm
Drinks available from 3:00pm - 11:00pm (Wedding night it will be open for us until 4:00am)
The Bistro
Located in the clubhouse, this is the lunch option onsite, overlooking the 9th hole and the castle.
Lunch Available Daily from 12:30pm – 4:00pm
Drinks Daily from 4:00pm - 11:30pm
Hermione's Restaurant
Also located in the clubhouse overlooking the 9th hole and the Castle, this is the castle's dinner option.
Dinner - Monday to Sunday: 4:00pm– 9:00pm
Open for drinks daily from 4:00pm – 11:30pm
Once You're There
Kilkea has a variety of activities and experiences for guests while you're at the castle. Options and details on how to book are listed below!
Golf
Kilkea has a beautiful championship golf course onsite, with tee times starting around 7:00am - perfect for a round before the wedding! They do have golf club rentals, but there only are about 10-15 sets of club available so if you'd like to rent, book in early! There are plenty of golfers at the wedding, so if you would like to play and join a group that'd already playing, reach out to James and he can coordinate.
Spa
There is a great spa onsite that offers a variety of services, from massages and facials to nails and blow-outs. Below is a link to the spa site, and you can see the brochure with prices and details. You can book this in as early as you would like.
Other Activites
There are various other activities available at the Castle, such as escape rooms, archery, tennis, and more! There are some activities onsite, and also some offsite - below is the PDF for the 2026 activities, including pricing and basic terms and conditions. To get more information and book, please email experience@kilkeacastle.ie to get in touch with the Experiences team.