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There’s a word in Danish called hygge, perhaps you’ve heard it. But if not, it loosely translates to a feeling of coziness brought on during the winter months by lighting candles, wearing
fleece and drinking whiskey. Now hygge might be a Danish word, but it’s a concept that anyone who’s lived somewhere cold for a significant period of time can relate to. As it just so
happened, we were in Ireland a few weeks ago, where the clocks had just been set back an hour and seasonal depression threatened to rear its ugly head. Luckily though, the Hibernians are not
just experts in craic (the Gaelic word for a good time), but they’re also quite well versed in hygge, even if they don’t realize it. Barrel aged whiskey, dinner by the fire, warm
hospitality and seaside golf was more than enough to keep us in good spirits at a golf resort just north of Dublin.
Golf has been played at Portmarnock for some 170 years. Jameson Golf Links (formerly Portmarnock Links) is one of two courses on the narrow peninsula. The course originally opened in 1995,
the brainchild of the legendary sports marketing powerhouse Mark McCormack who turned Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods and Arnold Palmer into larger-than-life icons. The concept was simple, to
build a world class golf course on the same peninsula as the historic Portmarnock Golf Club, but to cater it to visitors by building a 131 room hotel. Despite its best efforts though, the
course and resort has always existed in the shadow of the neighboring club, and having such a similar name certainly never helped. However, with a new ownership group now in place since 2020
led by the Gaglardi brothers, who own other hotels and the NHL’s Dallas Stars, the property has undergone a rebranding.