Arrival, Parking & check in
It is best to arrive at The Courtyard between 16:00 and 17:00 so that you can settle into your room and relax and have tea and a snack before your yoga class. Please note the Friday evening yoga class starts at 18:00. Follow signs for carpark. Please park in an orderly fashion to allow maximal space for everyone. If you are coming with a friend or a couple it would be best to arrange to come in one car rather than two cars, that would be helpful. Please then come directly to the Dairymaids House where you can enjoy some refreshments and wait to be shown to your house and individual room.
What to bring
Yoga clothing or loose or stretchy
Walking boots and extra runners, a pair of shoes you can keep clean for inside
Warm clothing (remember it though it is Spring it can still be cold! bring warm clothing)
Rain jacket and hat
Bring drinking bottles – Don’t buy water to bring down, our water is pure private well water!
Excellent quality yoga mats are provided, you do not need to bring your own
Towels and bed linen are all provided.
Mindful House keeping Requests
The Yoga Room
Please do not bring glasses, mugs etc into the yoga room, only plastic bottles, gym bottles
Please leave your shoes in the corridor prior to entering the yoga room
There is a toilet close to the yoga room, pls ask the teacher to point it out to you
Please do not take phones into the yoga room
Please be on time for your class, 10 mins in advance
Please tidy up your yoga props after each class, on the last day of the retreat you will be required to place your props back into the store room in an orderly fashion
The Dairymaid’s Kitchen & Mindful Mugs
You can help yourselves all weekend to a selection of beautiful loose herbal teas, black tea and coffee in The Dairymaids kitchen. Guests are requested to wash their own mug and dry it after use and put it back on the shelf. If everyone makes this little effort then there will be clean mugs for everyone all weekend, how good is that! *If you bring your mug back to your room please be sure to bring it back! Please don’t take mugs out of the Dairymaids House. There are mugs in all of the houses. Thank you!
The Dairymaid’s Sitting Room
This is a large sitting room where the group gets together to sit around the fire and relax. If you are bringing your mugs down to the sitting room please bring your mugs back to the kitchen to wash them and put them away once you have finished to try to keep the room nice and tidy for everyone. There are sitting rooms in all the houses, please if you could keep in mind that in the communal sitting room, The Dairymaids there are 3 bedrooms, so we ask that guests vacate the communal sitting room by 22:00 so that the guests sleeping in The Dairymaids house can go to sleep early if they so wish to.
Thank you!
The Dining room – Meal time
We leave a trolley near the dining tables, once you have finished with your plate, please scrape off any leftovers (usually there are none! 🙂 into the container provided on the trolley and leave your plate on the trolley, this makes it easier for us to clear. Please also clear your drinking glass. Thank you!
Being Eco-Friendly and Conserving Energy
When leaving your individual houses to go to class, lunch, dinner or going to bed at night, please be mindful of turning off all lights in all rooms and all bathroom fans, as you would do at home in your own house. If lights and fans are left on in your house or room we will be required to ask that you return to your house or room to turn them off. It’s quite surprising how many people leave lights and bathroom fans on whilst they go to class an then lunch, this means the bathroom fans and lights may be on for 3 hours, when they don’t need to be. So please be extra mindful to save energy, as you would in your own home. Thank you! Heating is operated on timers, if the temperature in your house does not suit please let Olivia know and she will modify the heating to your requirement. Some people don’t like heating on in their rooms at night time, if this is your case then you can simply turn the radiators knobs to off in your own room, of sharing do make sure to check with your roommate they are happy with the temperature.
Accommodation
There are 4 courtyard houses, The Grooms, The Saddler’s Loft, The Dairymaid’s and Tindal’s cottage. Some of the bedrooms have en-suite bathrooms and some have shared en-suite bathrooms where 2 bedrooms have access to the same en-suite. This system works well however you just have to remember to lock both doors. Each house has well equipped kitchens, not that you will be cooking! The water in the kitchen taps is well water from our private well and is as pure as you can get. You can fill your water bottles from your kitchens to bring with you to the yoga classes.
Toilets
There is a toilet close to the yoga room, you do not need to go back to your house to visit the bathroom during your class. The teacher can show you where this toilet is. The same toilet can be used at meal time as it is close to the Dining Room. There is another communal toilet in the Dairymaids House. Then of course you have your own toilets in your room or in your house should these toilets be occupied.
Alcohol
We prefer that guests don’t drink alcohol during the retreat. Guests will benefit most from the classes and the experience as a whole if they are feeling good, fresh and well rested in the mornings after a good night’s sleep. We want to send you home feeling great, rested, revitalised and feeling positive and healthy, so let’s try to give ourselves what we deserve and get the most out of the special weekend.
Weekend
Schedule
Friday
16:00 -17:30 – Arrive at the Courtyard, relax and settle in to your allocated Courtyard house
17:15 – Refreshments in The Dairymaids House
18:00 – Our first yoga class in The Carriage House – Duration 1.5 hour class
19:30 – Dinner in The Dairymaids. 2 course meal. Main & dessert. After dinner guests are free to relax.
Saturday
08:30 – Light healthy breakfast snack (the breakfast snack & fruit is left out from about 8:30 but you are welcome to arrive later, should you wish to lie in)
09:30 – Yoga Class -2 hours
12:00 – Brunch
12:30 – Free time options for Saturday afternoon
– You will be given a walk/trek route to take in some fresh Wicklow air and beautiful forestry and hills, ask Olivia for walks. Guests can go together or split off into various groups, some may prefer a short leisurely walk others may prefer a longer more fast paced walk.
– Visit the Tinahely farm shop & cafe (a Ballymaloe styled café selling crafts and artisan food products)
– Chill out at The Courtyard alone or with others. Have some quiet time, go for a stroll on a country track
17:00 – 1.5 hour yoga class
18:30 – Delicious healthy vegetarian 2 course dinner, main & dessert– after dinner free to relax.
Sunday
08:30 – Light healthy breakfast snack (the breakfast snack & fruit is left out from about 8:30 but you are welcome to arrive later, should you wish to lie in)
09:30 – Yoga class 2 hours
12:00 –Lunch
13:00 – Relax
14:00 – Departure
* Fruit, tea, coffee and an array of loose herbal teas are available in The Dairymaids thoughout the weekend
Your Hosts
Olivia
Olivia who most of you will know already or will have dealt with at the booking stage will be on-hand throughout the weekend for any questions, help or support that you may need. Please come to her straight away with any questions or concerns that you may have and she will help you and resolve any issues immediately.
Noel & Dee
Noel and Dee, Olivia’s parents, are the proud owners of this special property which they have painstakingly restored from a state of disrepair when they purchased the property 12 years ago. When Noel retired as a veterinary surgeon he bravely took on this project. The project has been a great success and has kept him out of mischief for many years. It is thanks to Noel and Dee that we have this very special yoga retreat venue today. Dee is still working as a teacher and she will retire this summer. Noel and Dee are great hosts and love to welcome our guests. Noel will be on hand when you arrive and will help you settle into your house and ensure that you are comfortable.
Frances & Tina
Frances, Tina and Olivia all work together to nourish you with great vegetarian food throughout the weekend. Frances and Tina enjoy meeting the guests, so do say hello and introduce yourself to them. They will be in and out of the dining room as the kitchen is attached to the dining room.
Billy & Jess
We have two dogs that will be very happy to see you! However we generally keep them inside when guests are arriving or if there are activities taking place in the Courtyard. Jess is the larger of the two, a Labrador cross who has an insatiable appetite for love & affection! Billy, Olivia’s dog is the poodle/terrier, a bit wiser in his old age and a little more independent, but extremely cute!
If you haven’t already liked us on Facebook, then please do! It would be great if you could also ‘check in’ to The Courtyard Yoga Retreats on Facebook during your weekend! You can also give positive reviews/ratings on the Facebook page, which we love reading. Here is the link to our Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/thecourtyardretreat/
Wifi
Coolattin_wifi
Password: guestaccess
Directions to The Courtyard Yoga Retreats
GPS Coordinates Latitude: 52.753489 | Longitude: -6.5142
N11 – From Dublin
Coming from Dublin turn off N11 at Rathnew village, head in the direction of Glenealy and Rathdrum. Pass by Rathdrum to Ballinaclash and Aughrim. Cross the bridge in Aughrim and turn right for Tinahely and Carnew. Continue for 12 minutes (do not take the turn to Tinahely continue until the turn right for Coolboy, enter Coolboy and turn right at the pub, cross the little bridge and turn left towards Coolattin and Shillelagh continue past Coolattin Golf Club entrance on right. About half a mile after the golf club you will come to white railings on the right which is the back gate to golf club. The Courtyard and Coolattin Lodge is opposite the white railings on the left.
From M50 – M9
Come off the M9 at Castledermot, kildare head in the direction of Tullow, as you enter Tullow take a left, pass through the town and take a right to Shillelagh at the top of the town. Pass through Shillelagh and keep going straight you will come to a bend to the right, do not follow to the right but carry on up this road, Coolattin Golf Course will be sign posted at this junction, continue up this road towards Coolattin Golf club about 1 km up this road you will come to a forestry gate with white railings on the left, Coolattin Lodge/The Couryard is on the right. You will see granite pillars with lights. Coolattin Lodge is written on the pillars.
From Shillelagh to The Courtyard
If you find yourself in Shillelagh village head east towards Coolattin or Coolattin Golf Club. The Courtyard is 1 km on the right opposite the white railings. This link will bring you to the map on our website
http://www.thecourtyardyogaretreats.ie/contact-2/
If anyone is concerned about getting here please call us in advance and we will talk you through the directions. Please do take the time to check out the route plan in advance rather than leaving it to last minute, as we would love you all to arrive on time and in a relaxed state of mind.