Coxtown Manor

“It had a lovely easy charm, and the food was fantastic.” Our friend Catherine’s comment about Ed Dewael’s manor house, set a few miles south east of Donegal town, is absolutely apt: “a lovely easy charm”.
That’s what Mr Dewael, with his calm gregariousness and understatement, brings to this fine house, and its easy charm also attracts a fascinating bunch of visitors, all of them enjoying the bar meals of fresh soups, fresh fish and shellfish, and organic salads.
The cooking is central to what Mr Dewael achieves. He has an ability, as an outsider, to offer a fresh take on Irish dishes, he sees Irish staples in a new way. We have often praised his imaginative take on the Irish breakfast, where he deliciously subverts all the clichés to offer the most lip-smackin’ fry-up, but all the bar meals in Coxtown have a very individualistic concept of savour and richness. Ally this to the house’s easy charm, and the boss’s easy charm, great value, and you wind up with a country house destination that is not just respected, but loved.