Mother’s Day is coming up and I’ve been searching for some nice ideas around the country to take the Mum in your life for a special treat. I will be chatting about these on the Midday Show on TV3 next Tuesday 1st March. There will also be a special prize of spa and afternoon tea on the show so don’t miss out!
Afternoon Tea is favourite treat of mine and Mother’s Day it is also a good excuse to spend with your beloved Aunt, Granny, God-mother, daughter or Sister. So, maybe take the special lady in your life to one of these lovely venues suggested below.

DELECTABLE AFTERNOON TEA

TANKARDSTOWN HOUSE, CO.MEATH

I took my mum to the royal county of Meath to check out the Restaurants at Tankardstown House. Tucked in behind the main house, the courtyard houses two restaurants and a tea room. We choose a sparkling afternoon tea with glass of prosecco and open finger sandwiches. The desserts were delicious with the usual favourites of macaroons and chocolate brownies. We drank endless cups of tea in the cosy atmospheric stone buildings which have been tastefully decorated with old-world charm.

It is advisable to book if you want to visit any of the restaurants or to have afternoon tea.

Afternoon Tea is €40 for two and make it sparkling with prosecco for €50

special offer of Bed and Breakfast with Afternoon tea €110pp

www.tankardstown.ie

Mother’s Day in Northern Ireland 2016

Why not take your Mammy or all the special ladies in your life to Belfast for the day! With Northern Ireland’s Year of Food and Drink 2016 now in full swing, this is the year for all food and drink loving mums, from indulgent afternoon teas to top quality eateries, there are plenty of options to spoil your mum. Northern Ireland’s Year of Food and Drink 2016 is a year long celebration of everything delicious about this place. The epic landscapes, traditions and people that make our food heritage so unique. With 366 days of foodie experiences, there’s no better time to visit and enjoy a true taste of Northern Ireland. Some nice ideas below…

Surely one of the best ways to spoil someone special is with a relaxing break at one of Northern Ireland’s top hotels. In the mood to squeeze the maximum amount into your break? Come to Belfast. This compact capital city is buzzing with musical, cultural and foodie goings – on. It has it all – shopping, award-winning, restaurants, countless hotels, bars, museums and more. Best of all, belfast is a cultural melting pot with phenomenal theatres and galleries, quirky events around the clock. Don’t miss the icons; the epic Titanic Belfast, Crumlin Road Gaol, St George’s Market, take a black taxi tour and spend the evening in the cobbled Cathedral Quarter.

Europa Hotel, Belfast

Located in the heart of Belfast’s business and shopping district and beautifully restored, this popular international hotel offers spacious elegance and has been the choice of ex US President Bill Clinton. The Europa’s March Madness offer includes luxurious overnight accommodation, complimentary cocktail on arrival, Full Irish breakfast in the morning and complimentary WIFI from £95 per room per night.

Culloden Estate & Spa, Co. Down

Perfectly located in the Hollywood Hills overlooking Belfast Lough, is the 5* Culloden Estate & Spa. With luxury bedrooms, sumptuous soft furnishings, quality dining, and not forgetting the fantastic spa facilities and treatments on offer, this hotel is the perfect retreat. Relax on a spa break with overnight accommodation, full Irish breakfast and your choice of a 55 minute Spa treatment from £155 per person sharing.

Ramda Encore Belfast
This modern city centre hotel is in close proximity to Victoria Square Shopping Centre and the vibrant Cathedra Quarter with a great selection of restaurants and bars on the doorstep. Winter Warmer offer including overnight accommodation, full Irish breakfast, VIP hamper, £20 food/drinks voucher for SQ Bar & Grill from £44.50 per person sharing.

Clayton Hotel, Belfast
The Clayton Hotel is a stylish and contemporary hotel within walking distance of shopping, restaurants and nightlife with a current special offer of two nights bed and full Irish breakfast and dinner on one evening from £99 per person sharing.

Wellington Park Hotel, Belfast
Situated near the cosmopolitan shopping haven of the Lisburn Road, the Wellington Park Hotel puts you in the heart of one of Belfast’s finest areas. Current special offer for a Spring mini-break for a two nights accommodation with breakfast each morning and dinner on one evening from £79 per person sharing.

Mother’s Day Afternoon Tea at Titanic Belfast

No Afternoon Tea would be complete without the tea itself and our guests can choose from a selection of blends, including our luxury loose leaf Thompson’s Tea, served in replica White Star Line crockery. Alternatively why not add a little fizz to your day by including a glass of Prosecco or Champagne as you take in the atmosphere of our live jazz band!

Afternoon Tea from £25 per person and every Mother attending will receive a special Gift from Titanic Belfast, so please advise how many Mother’s will be dining in each party at the time of booking. For more information, or to book, visit www.titanicbelfast.com

The National Gallery Masterpiece Tour – Rembrandt’s Self Potraits at the Ulster Museum, Belfast

Rembrandt (1606–1669) is perhaps the best-loved and most admired painter of the seventeenth century. Rembrandt produced some 80 self-portraits – paintings, drawings and prints- over the course of his 40-year career. No artist before Rembrandt, and only a very few since, have made self-portraiture such a significant part of their life’s work. Self Portrait at the Age of 63, painted in the final year of the artist’s life, is among the very last works he finished. This magnificent late Rembrandt self-portrait is hung with a small group of seventeenth-century Dutch paintings from the Ulster Museum collection. Rarely on display, these paintings are by artists whose work Rembrandt would have known and so, when viewed together, there is sense of entering Rembrandt’s world.

Enjoy an afternoon at a Cookery School

No ‘foodie’ should leave without exercising their culinary skills and using our local produce at one of Northern Ireland’s cookery schools. Spread across the region the cookery schools all have their individual specialities from seafood caught metres away from where it will be prepared to classes in traditional home baking. The Belfast Cookery School is open to all levels of experience and is designed to reawaken, enliven or revitalise a passion for cooking with fresh ingredients and the best quality produce. The Cookery School at James Street South (also in Belfast) is another ideal location to participate in practical cookery classes or demonstrations.

If you are in the South of the country Hayfield Manor in Cork has some ideas for mother’s Day.

My favourite place to visit in Cork is the English Market but you could always take your mum to this lovely hotel and spoil her rotten for the entire weekend.

Mum-Time at Hayfield Manor

This Mother’s Day, give the gift of that most elusive of treasures…time! Shared experiences are the theme for Mother’s Day at Hayfield Manor this year. With busy lives and full calendars, we’re encouraging some decadent down time to create some special memories.

There are many gift options ranging from luxury overnight stays, Mother’s Day Lunch and Spa packages to choose from.

Mother’s Day Luxury Break

What better way to show you’re appreciation than treating your mother to a wonderful weekend at Hayfield Manor. This package is designed for two people to share the experience, perhaps she may be kind enough to invite you too!

We will ensure that she is utterly pampered with 2 nights of luxury accommodation including full Irish Breakfast each morning and a 4 course dinner on one evening in either Orchids, Hayfield Manor’s signature restaurant, or Perrotts Garden Bistro.

This package is specific to Mother’s Day dates.

Price: From €248.00 per person sharing.

For more information on this unique package, please click here.

To Book:

Phone: +353 21 4845900

Email: [email protected]

Mother’s Day Lunch

Celebrate this Mother’s Day with all the family and enjoy Hayfield Manor’s traditional Mother’s Day Lunch, served in the contemporary glass walled Perrotts Garden Bistro. Indulge her with a delicious four course menu for €42.00 per person. To view the Mother’s Day lunch menu, please click here.

To Book:

Phone: +353 21 4845900

Email: [email protected]

Gift Ideas

The Beautique Spa Signature Package

Treat your mum to a day of ultimate relaxation & temptation at Hayfield Manor with a combination of The Beautique Spa’s Signature Package and delightful Afternoon Tea. This offer commences with an Aroma Foot Ritual, followed by a Back of the Body Massage and an Anti-Aging Booster Facial, preceded or followed by Afternoon Tea in the beautiful surrounds of Orchids Restaurant.

Price: €149.00

To Book:

Phone: 021 484 5900

Email: [email protected]