Ballyvolane House

Guests Dine in Style at an Irish Country Manor House
Cheese Souffle Features Food of the Land

To dine at Ballyvolane House, one of Ireland's most elegant manor houses, is to have stepped into a Jane Austen novel, where pampered guests of the landed gentry arrive for a house party with liveried servants in tow. But in the 21st century, Ballyvolane House has been turned into a family hotel and restaurant, now run by Justin and Jenny Green, who are hotel school graduates with international experience. Having worked in Hong Kong, Dubai and Bali, the couple returned to Ireland and the family business in 2004.

Ballyvolane House, located in Castlelyons, County Cork, has been home to just three families. The historic house was built in 1728 by Sir Richard Pyne, a retired Lord Chief Justice of Ireland. The Greens acquired it in 1955 and the mansion was turned into a country guest house by Justin's father, Jeremy. Guests can select from accommodations in the main house and beginning in June, from walled garden retreats now being built.

Dinner, served at 8 p.m., is a four-course seasonal menu. Guests are ushered into the magnificent dining room - agleam with polished wood, silver, china, crystal and the candlelit glow from handsome candelabras. Justin Green presides at the head of the table and dinner is presented by the wait staff and served family style.

The menu at Ballyvolane House celebrates locally produced ingredients, including the freshest, garden-grown fruits and vegetables, as well as salmon from the famous River Blackwater and local lamb, renowned for its tenderness and flavor. Ireland also is world-famous for its green pastures, the exclusive diet of the country's dairy cows, so cheese and butter star on the Ballyvolane House menu.

To help Americans celebrate St. Patrick's Day, the Greens shared a recipe for Ballyvolane House Dubliner Cheese Souffle, selecting for the main ingredient an authentic Irish cheese that's readily available in United States supermarkets and specialty stores.

Recipe

Ballyvolane House Dubliner Cheese Souffle

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