The castle
Site of a castle built in 1172 by the Norman Hugh de Lacy near the site of the 1014 Battle of Clontarf; the present building is a Victorian reconstruction dating to 1837 designed by William Vitruvius Morrison.
Why stay here
A 12th-century-founded castle turned 4-star hotel inside the city of Dublin, with a colourful past as a cabaret venue before its 1990s hotel conversion.