We'd heard about a hotel in County Cork which used sea-water in its spa. So when I googled 'Cork sea-water spa' up popped ‘The Inchydoney Lodge and Spa’, which turned out to be an absolute gem of a place for a five-night stay to celebrate Jane’s birthday.

I knew from their website that it enjoyed an excellent location and that, indeed, they pumped their spa water direct from the sea, heating it to a very adequate 28 degrees Centigrade (adding nothing in the way of chlorine or whatever, thank goodness). But what we didn't know until we arrived was how friendly, helpful and downright lovely the staff were. I mentioned this to some of the local people who used the spa, saying I assumed this was because the staff were Irish, but was told that the Inchydoney staff were, in fact, rather special.

There are several options for stays: bed and breakfast (midweek or weekend); 'Island Break', a two-night stay with two breakfasts and one dinner; the 'Spa Experience', which is like the 'Island Break' with two special seawater treatments per person thrown in; and finally, the one we went for, a self-catering apartment, our five-day stay costing us 595 euros, and worth every penny.

All guests, those in the apartments included, can use any of the hotel facilities, including the spa from 8 am to 8 pm. We took full advantage of it, going twice or three times a day, and throughly enjoying every minute. You had to sign in, with either your membership or room number, and we were rather surprised to see that, most of the time, our fellow spa users were local people rather than other hotel guests. Odd that, because it was possibly the most memorable aspect of our stay.

There was a swimming area, about 15 metres long, on one side, while - on the other - there were a variety of places where you could have water gushing from above under pressure (ideal for soothing and pummelling your shoulders) or from the side or below, cunningly positioned to work on your back, calves or feet. Difficult to tear yourself away. We alternated this with short sessions in the sauna and steam room, ending up with a chill-out session in their special 'relaxation area' on the floor above the spa, where there are bowls of fruit and fruit salad and jugs of freshly squeezed orange and apple juice which you can sample while stretching out full-length in a 'quiet zone' looking out towards the eastern most of the two Inchydoney beaches.

We flew in to Cork airport, spending the first and last nights of our week's stay at the very pleasant Gabriel Guesthouse in that city. The people at Inchydoney Lodge had said that they could lay on a taxi from Cork for 75 euros each way, but we preferred to take the bus from Cork to the lovely little town of Clonakilty (36 euros for the two of us return), followed by a 10 euro taxi ride on to the Lodge. So 56 euros for bus + taxi rather than 150 for taxi all the way.

We arrived pretty well laden, having stocked up in Clonakilty with enough food and drink for the five days (to which we added sea-spinach from the rocks a couple of minutes away to add to our quota of greens).

The kitchen in our apartment was very well equipped, with everything we needed for cooking, brewing proper coffee and so on. (We did eat in the Dunes Bar one evening, but the meal was no better than the ones we were making for ourselves; and I made the mistake of asking for my steak to be served 'medium rare' which, indeed, is how it reached me, with its little flag to prove it. What I hadn't really paid attention to on the menu was that the meat would be served on a really hot metal tray which meant, of course, that it would carry on cooking, way past the way I prefer it. Still, no great tragedy. And the 'continental breakfast' we had in the main restaurant on our final morning more than made up for it, including excellent lightly smoked thick-cut salmon, a fine selection of local cheeses, soda bread and very good coffee).

In addition to our bedroom, with its big, comfortable double bed, there was a second twin-bedded room for people who want to share with friends or bring children along. And if you really want to cram people in, one of the two sofas in the living room area converts into a bed, it seems.

Our window and balcony looked down onto the western-most of the two beaches of what is actually an isthmus rather than an actual island; but who's quibbling. Walks along either of the beaches could be a bit on the bracing side, but you could always hide away in the marram-grass covered dunes for a bit of quiet reading.

There are many delightful places to visit in the area, though for that you really need to hire a car. Maybe we'll do that next time. Meanwhile, the hotel, its spa, our apartment and what was within 20 minutes walk were quite enough for what was a beautiful 5-day stay.

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So why did I go all alliterative in the title of this piece?  Well it was misty on the first couple of days, and ‘Irish’ collocates with ‘mist’, doesn’t it?  But the music part was because we were able to watch the semi-finals and finals of BBC Young Musician of the Year, the overall winner being Laura van der Heijden, an outstanding cellist, just 15 years old, who attends an ordinary comprehensive school rather than a specialist music academy; watch out for her in the years to come, and check her out on YouTube, playing the relatively little known cello concerto by William Walton. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMlSE56jncg