Staying in a Miniature Irish Castle

A few weekends ago we headed down to County Cork for a couple of nights away in Annes Grove Miniature Castle. I always love any excuse to explore a new area of Ireland and one of the ways we choose where to explore is finding quirky properties to stay in. A bonus of staying in a cute castle or lighthouse is that even if the weather turns out minging at least the place you're staying is somewhere interesting to light a fire and play a few board games in! A necessary consideration given Ireland's inclination towards terrible weather no matter the season. Not that the weather on this stay was anything to complain about; rather the opposite as on this trip we were spoiled with unusually warm and sunny days perfect for exploring some local gardens and feeling like king and queen of our own miniature castle! Annes Grove is just one of the many unique properties you can book through the Irish Landmark Trust. It's not the first time I've talked about them as we've stayed at one of their other properties (Helen's Tower) before and they're always at the top of my list to recommend when people are asking for tips on where to stay in Ireland. What I feel is the best part about this organization is that they are a nonprofit--all of the money earned goes back into restoring more unique properties and saving tiny pieces of history around the country. It's really wonderful to see quirky old buildings that might otherwise be in ruins spruced up and made available to visit and stay in. As the name of this one implies, it has the feeling of a miniature castle complete with crenellations and spiral stone staircase. Did you know in real castles that in a spiral staircase one or more of the steps would be intentionally built with flaws or more narrow to the rest? That way the owner of the castle would have an advantage over anyone pursuing them upstairs! I'm not enough of an expert to figure out if any of the stairs in Annes Grove were trick steps, but you do feel on the verge of swashbuckling adventure when climbing up them to your bedroom...