16/05/2026
With so many lovely new followers 🙏 over the last few months we thought it was time we reintroduced ourselves. We are Helen and Brian and are the owners of our beloved Castlewood House, our very own little piece of heaven in one of the most beautiful places in the world.
Our backstory is that we met in Ashford Castle back in the 1990’s while both on work placement from college, Helen from Dublin College of Catering, or Cathal Brugha Street as we affectionately called it, and Brian from Galway. What an incredible place and what a start to our hotel management careers, and a place that will forever hold a special place in our hearts 💕.
We then worked for lots of other hotels, including Dromoland Castle, Nuremore Hotel, the O’Callaghan Hotel group to name but a few.
After we got married in 2000 we started to think about owning our own place, a dream we both shared for many years. We borrowed the money, commissioned an architect, contracted a local builder snd started building Castlewood House in 2004. I’m not going to lie, it was scary, and there were days that were stressful and there were days that you questioned your own judgement and hoped that your decisions were indeed the ‘ right ‘ decisions. But we believed in each other and our ability and opened just 12 months later in May 2005 and haven’t looked back since.
It’s been a rollercoaster for the last 21 years, with growing our family and our business but we’ve loved every minute. We love welcoming people and looking after people and have made so many new friends from all over the world. Di**le has been an incredibly welcoming place and we are so grateful for that. It’s a brilliant community here and we just love being a small part of the magic of the Di**le Peninsula.
My advice to anyone thinking of opening their own business, follow your dreams, never be afraid to give it a go, you just never know where they will lead you
Helen & Brian
