Glasson Lakehouse

Westmeath and nestled on the shores of Lough Ree. This hotel is also home to Glasson Golf Club, Brooks & Co. Killinure House is an early 19th Century double bow fronted house situated on a fine position overlooking beautiful Killinure Lough. The House was built in front of an earlier house, probably by Ridgley Hatfield c. 1650 and possibly incorporates parts of an old Dillon Castle which stood on

the site. It was from Killinure that Sir James Dillon launched his attack on Athlone in 1641. The present house was built in 1808 by Major Alexander Murray. His cousin Major General James Patrick Murray later purchased Killinure. James Patrick Murray had an interesting and distinguished military career. He served in the Peninsular War in Spain and Portugal where he sustained a serious injury to his right arm. Murray served as Adjutant General in Ireland from 1811 to 1819 and was stationed in Athlone. He died at Killinure in 1834, his death at an early age caused by a cold caught by his efforts to save the lives of two young officers who were drowned in the lake in front of the house. By 1911 the house was the residence of Peter Ponsonby Metge, a civil engineer of Huguenot extraction. The family relocated to England in 1922. The House and lands were purchased by Frank Reid in 1922 and is now owned by his son Tom Reid and his wife Breda and family. Tom & Breda farmed the land until 1991 when they transformed the farm into one of Ireland’s premier parkland golf courses. Given its glorious, lake-side location, six miles north of Athlone, it would be difficult to imagine a more arresting setting for a golf course, with Lough Ree and the Shannon visible from almost every part of the course. Breda Reid pretty much captured the essence of its appeal when she said: "I always considered this place to be heaven, even when it wasn't a golf course." Glasson’s origins back to a time when, as president of the local Rotary Club, Tom Reid was introduced to Christy O’Connor Jnr by a mutual friend. Tom says that ...“In considering my own commitment to farming, I became conscious of the fact that the children didn’t have that sort of interest long-term. And the beauty of our location, people were repeatedly urg­ing me to build a golf course here. So, the meeting with Christy was timely, in a num­ber of respects. Glasson has since become one Irelands leading wedding venues, the traditional wedding photos have a really ap­pealing back-drop from the lawn which sits between the 18th green and the banqueting area. For beyond the descending sweep, is the shimmering lake where Temple Island completes an irresistible picture.