Delphi Lodge can be hired exclusively for private house parties, corporate parties and small to medium weddings. The dining room seats 34 guests, the 13-bedroom lodge sleeps 28 and six self-catering cottages on the estate can add more beds. It stands at Leenaun in Connemara, County Galway, at the foot of Connacht's highest mountains.
Seminars and company events
The official site presents exclusive hire for private house parties, corporate parties and use for all occasions. No meeting rooms, projector setups or seminar capacities are listed, so the lodge suits a small team retreat or a company dinner rather than a conference. The team arranges viewings and takes enquiries by phone or email. Groups can combine the stay with activities offered on the estate, such as fly fishing lessons, guided hill walking and tutored clay pigeon shooting.
Weddings and receptions
Weddings are the format the lodge describes in most detail. It presents itself as suited to small and medium weddings and takes the whole lodge for a wedding party. The package is exclusive use for two nights with bed and breakfast and two dinners, one of which is the wedding meal. The minimum is 24 guests, and the dining room seats up to 34. The lodge states that spring, autumn and winter weddings suit it well, with log fires burning in the reception rooms. For photographs there are riverside walks, waterfalls, lake shores and a large lawn in front of the lodge, and row boats are available. A late-night disco can be organized, and the lodge can recommend local traditional musicians.
Rooms and capacities
The reception rooms include a library, a snooker room and a wine cellar. The dining room, with one large oak table, seats 34 at most. Meals are served in that room, and guests are used to eating together there.
Accommodation
The lodge has 13 bedrooms. One is a large family suite and three can be set up as twin or triple rooms, so the lodge comfortably sleeps 28. The estate also has six old-style self-catering cottages, which sleep from four to 10 people each when available. The Boathouse Cottages, Wrens Cottage and Waterfall Cottage are listed on the site.
Catering
The lodge's own chefs and cooks prepare lunch and dinner over the two days and work with the organizer in advance to cover guests' requirements. The kitchen uses fresh produce, and shellfish from the nearby Killary fjord is available locally. Sample wedding menus are published as a download on the official page, and the cellar is described as well known.
History and setting
In the 1830s the Marquis of Sligo built a sporting retreat here, and the Georgian house is now the lodge. The estate also runs a salmon fishery, and fishermen have visited Delphi for centuries. The setting is a lakeside valley between mountains and Atlantic coast, and the lodge is a member of Ireland's Blue Book.
Getting there
Delphi Lodge is at Tawnyinlough, Leenaun, Connemara, County Galway. The office is open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. every day and answers availability questions by phone.
