Brian and Carmel O'Dowd are the proprietors of St. Ernan's House Hotel, which is reached by private causeway. They specialize in antiques and subdued hospitality. A meal in St. Ernans' soft-lit dining room moves quietly and efficiently through courses of Irish vegetables and locally caught seafood. Herbs are from the chef's garden. Instead, a spouse may recline by the window with the latest Maeve Binchy novel not yet available in the United States.
Ducks paddle in the bay, oblivious to the drizzle, and leaves rustle as the morning breeze stiffens.
The green is cradled by two grassy dunes and separated from the tee by a deep, sandy chasm. No. 6, as the sea churns on the other side of an elongated dune. The hole requires more than three well-struck shots into a suddenly roaring wind to reach the unsheltered putting surface. Driving rain stings the skin, but it soon softens and moves inland, resulting in a brilliant rainbow. Well it might, and not merely because of the golf.