Marie Claire UK Marie Claire UK
  • Fashion Fashion
      • Fashion
        • View all Fashion
        • Fashion Trends
        • Shopping
        • Watches and Jewellery
        • Fashion News
  • Beauty Beauty
      • Beauty
        • View all Beauty
        • Fragrance
        • Hair
        • Make Up
        • Skincare
        • Nails
        • Marie Claire Beauty Awards
  • Health Health
      • Health
        • View all Health
        • Fitness
        • Nutrition
        • Female Health
        • Wellbeing
  • Life Life
      • Life
        • View all Life
        • Opinions
        • Travel
        • Sustainability
        • Weddings
        • Money & Work
        • Competitions
  • Culture Culture
      • Culture
        • View all Culture
        • TV and Film
        • Celebrity News
        • Books
        • Royal News
  • Vouchers Vouchers
      • Clothing
        • View all Vouchers
        • Mint Velvet
        • Karen Millen
        • H&M
        • nobody's child
        • ASOS
        • ARKET
        • MANGO
      • Designer Clothing
        • View all Vouchers
        • Reiss
        • THE OUTNET
        • SSENSE
        • Mytheresa
        • Liberty London
        • Selfridges
        • Farfetch
      • Accessories
        • View all Vouchers
        • AllSaints
        • Aspinal of London
        • Charles & Keith
        • River Island
        • FitFlop
        • Kate Spade
        • Vagabond
      • Jewellery
        • View all Vouchers
        • Pandora
        • Abbott Lyon
        • Goldsmiths
        • Beaverbrooks
        • Astrid & Miyu
        • Swarovski
        • Angara Jewellery
      • Beauty
        • View all Vouchers
        • Sephora
        • Cult Beauty
        • Space NK
        • Dyson
        • Clarins
        • Look Fantastic
        • Clinique
      • Activewear
        • View all Vouchers
        • Lululemon
        • Gymshark
        • Sweaty Betty
        • Nike
        • adidas
        • New Balance
        • Helly Hansen
  • NEWSLETTER Signup to our newsletter
  • logoCreated with Sketch.
    Marie Claire Newsletter

    Celebrity news, beauty, fashion advice, and fascinating features, delivered straight to your inbox!


    By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

    You are now subscribed

    Your newsletter sign-up was successful


    An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
    Trending
    • Women in Sport 2026
    • Marie Claire Masters
    • Autumn Winter 2026
    • Nail Trends 2026
    • Best Investment Bags
    • Best Perfumes
    1. Life
    2. Travel

    Gatsby House, Ardara, Ireland

    An ultra-chic five-bedroom house with stunning interiors hidden in a small town in Co. Donegal

    By Marie Claire
    Published 17 March 2009 In Features

    When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

    i-escape logo
    i-escape logo
    • Facebook
    • X
    • Pinterest
    Share this article
    Join the conversation
    Follow us
    Add us as a preferred source on Google
    Subscribe to our newsletter

    An ultra-chic five-bedroom house with stunning interiors hidden in a small town in Co. Donegal

    The brainchild of Amanda Swanwick and Brendan Kirwan (who also own Swell Apartment in Paris), Gatsby House must be the loveliest house rental in Co. Donegal.

    Its location in Ardara is an unlikely one, for this is a quiet town with not a lot going on. But it's the stunning scenery that draws people here - glorious mountains, glacial waterfalls and heathery moors. It's Ireland as you dreamed it would be, but with none of the blarney.

    The house dates back to the 19th century and underwent a lengthy

    refurb, and then a short stint as a hotel (called O'Fabulous), before becoming the stylish bolthole it is today. 

    Five beautiful ensuite rooms are decorated in rich velvets and cool silks, with calligraphy adorning the walls, and rolltop baths or deluge showers.

    Amanda and Brendan can book a private chef for slap-up dinners, or you can enjoy good Irish pub grub down the road. For pure indulgence on a wild and little-known coastline, bring your most glamorous friends and play at being F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda for a while.

    Marie Claire Newsletter

    Celebrity news, beauty, fashion advice, and fascinating features, delivered straight to your inbox!

    By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

    Gatsby House is a house rental with five bedrooms, costing from €1,600 for 3 days or €2,500 for a week.

    To book boutique hotels in Ireland and to read i-escape’s full hotel review, click here

    i-escape logo

    Marie Claire
    Social Links Navigation

    The leading destination for fashion, beauty, shopping and finger-on-the-pulse views on the latest issues. Marie Claire's travel content helps you delight in discovering new destinations around the globe, offering a unique – and sometimes unchartered – travel experience. From new hotel openings to the destinations tipped to take over our travel calendars, this iconic name has it covered.

    Latest in Travel
    Marie Claire UK Women Power London
    Travel Marie Claire UK Brought Some of London's Most Inspiring Women Together to Talk About the Future—Then We Talked About Everything Else
    Mischa Anouk Smith on a sunset boat trip along Türkiye’s Turquoise Coast
    Travel Forget Capri, Türkiye’s Turquoise Coast Is the Mediterranean’s New Luxury Hotspot
     
     
    Sensoria Dolomites
    Travel Part Ski Resort, Part Sanctuary, Sensoria Dolomites is Capturing the Wellness Zeitgeist
    Portrait Milano
    Travel I've Discovered the Luxury Milan Hideaway That’s Perfect for Shopping, Sightseeing and Feeling Like You've Been Gone a Week in Just Two Days
     
     
    Latest in Features
    New Beauty Products
    Beauty The Beauty Digest: Nobel Prize-Winning Skincare, a Very Chic Body Brush and the Future of LED Therapy
    What to ask for at the hair salon
    Hair Here's What to Ask For at the Hair Salon to Get What You Actually Want
     
     
    Keely Hodgkinson winning Athlos 2026
    Fitness Fashion is Fuel—Keely Hodgkinson is Winning Proof That Wearing Confidence-Boosting Outfits Changes the Way We Move
    NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 10: Anne Hathaway attends Moncler Fifth Avenue Flagship Opening at 767 Fifth Avenue on September 10, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by The Hapa Blonde/GC Images)
    Life The “Hot Pregnancy” Era Is Supposedly Empowering. It Just Made Me Feel Worse...
     
     
    logoCreated with Sketch.
    • Site Archive
    • Contact Future's experts
    • Contact us
    • Terms and conditions
    • Advertise with us
    • Privacy policy
    • Cookies policy
    • About us
    Add as a preferred source on Google Add as a preferred source on Google

    Marie Claire UK is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

    © Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.