How to make an 844-year-old Irish castle sustainable

How do you make Kilkea Castle sustainable?

That’s the difficult question the owners had to answer when they renovated the old fort and turned it into the Kilkea Castle Estate & Golf Club.

“We attach great importance to sustainability,” says Adrian Mooney, the property’s sales manager. “And the process has been going on for years.”

But lately there’s a sense of urgency. Above-average temperatures, fewer frosty days and weather that feels more Mediterranean than Irish have led Kilkea to set new, ambitious sustainability goals. (Other Irish hotels have felt similar pressure, including the Anantara Hotel in Dublin.)

Kilkea is trying hard to answer the question of how to make a 10th century castle sustainable. Visitors will notice a greener property in many ways. But that’s not why Kilkea is embarking on the sustainability journey.

This is how they made Kilkea Castle sustainable

Kilkea Castle, built in 1180, is a protected structure under Irish law. All changes to the hotel will be controlled and managed through the country’s development control process. When it came to making it sustainable, the options were limited.

Although you can’t convert a tower to put solar panels on the roof of a historic castle, you can make sure the guest rooms are as eco-friendly as possible. That means eliminating single-use plastics, implementing an aggressive recycling program, and sourcing restaurant meals locally to avoid too large a carbon footprint.

You can also grow vegetables in your immaculately maintained English garden and serve them to guests who want an authentic farm-to-table experience.

Kilkea Castle Estate & Golf Club did all of these things in and around the castle.

But the guest villas – well, that’s another story. These received solar panels as well as energy-efficient insulation and heating, thus achieving the highest possible standard.

It still wasn’t enough.

How they took sustainability to the next level

As the world began to warm, Kilkea’s efforts to become more environmentally friendly became more serious. There were electric vehicle charging stations, a new leach field for wastewater treatment, and even more solar panels. Last year the hotel also added a new Volvo XC60 hybrid caravan.

Mooney says the hotel wanted to find even more ways to save energy. Therefore, a new building management system was installed.

“This tells us how much energy we are producing and detects peaks so we can monitor and optimally control them,” he explains.

For example, if someone leaves the heating on in the conference center, the building management system will alert the hotel management – and they can turn off the heating.

Although the owners of Kilkea explored the possibility of using the nearby River Grease for hydroelectric power, they found that the current was not strong enough. But the next green energy project shows a lot of potential.

“We are still in the very early stages of assessing the property for geothermal energy,” he says.

In fact, just a few days ago, engineers drilled two areas near the clubhouse and golf course. If all goes as planned, Kilkea Castle will have access to geothermal energy by next autumn.

How much would the hotel save?

“That cannot be said at this point,” he says.

Do the guests want that?

Kilkea’s efforts to achieve new levels of sustainability come at a time when Irish tourism authorities are pushing for more green initiatives.

But the big question is: Do the guests want this?

Mooney says it depends on the guest. The average visitor doesn’t ask if the hotel is sustainable. But meeting planners often have a checkbox for sustainability efforts when they send out a RFP, so it’s helpful to have a ready answer.

Is anyone paying attention? Yes, but mostly on a small scale. There’s a note on the menu explaining that the chef aims to “reduce the food miles” required to serve you a meal. The products are grown just a stone’s throw from the castle. There are solar panels and a hybrid service van, all of which convey the same message: We want to be part of the solution.

This gives the average guest a more sustainable experience, even though this may not be desired. And that’s perfectly fine with the people of Kilkea Castle.

Ultimately, Mooney says, Kilkea didn’t undertake these sustainability efforts for the benefit of guests – even though guests often benefit from them. And it’s not for advertising either. Kilkea has not sent out any media releases boasting about its sustainability.

Rather, it is the owners’ deep conviction that sustainability is not always easy, but it is the right thing to do.