DROMOLAND CASTLE

County Clare, Ireland

For 900 years prior to becoming a posh playground, Dromoland served as the domain of the O’brien family. Established in 1064, the grounds steadily expanded with Ireland’s history as a backdrop; notably, while many other showplace manors were razed during The Troubles, local IRA

Bar patrons can add mystery to their next round by picking from a deck of special, cocktail-themed tarot cards. leaders spared Dromoland because its lords had a reputation for dealing fairly with tenant farmers. In 1962, it was sold to an Irish-descended American industrialist who rehabbed it into a hotel resort, including the conversion of the lord’s octagonal study into a spiffy cocktail bar. Royal treatment: The estate’s 450 acres offer “country pursuits” from fishing to archery to clay shooting—or go full noble with a falconry experience.