Miss Courtney's Tea rooms

Mad Hatter's Teaparty at Miss Courtney's

2010-02-22T06:48:00.000-08:00

Our dates are set and tickets are on sale! We have two dates for our mad hatter's tea parties.

Sunday the 7th of March - Family afternoon tea party 12 noon

Tuesday the 9th of March -Ladies and gents tea party 7pm sharp!

If you also wish to see the film the screening times are suitable for afterwards and we will be happy to book your cinema tickets for you.

Tea party tickets must be booked and paid for in advance.

Admission : Adults €20 Childrens €10

2010-02-05T12:40:00.000-08:00

Chocolate Chip Cookies

What you need:

6 oz butter
4 oz caster sugar
8 oz self-raising flour
4 oz chocolate chips

What you do:
Preheat the oven to 180oC, gas mark 4. Grease 2 baking sheets.
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.

Using an electric whisk is quickest.
Sieve the flour into the bowl and fold it in, using a metal spoon to ‘cut’, lift and fold the mixture.
Fold in the chocolate chips.
Roll the dough into small balls and place on the greased baking sheets. Flatten them slightly and leave room between for them to spread out.
Cook for about 15 minutes until lightly browned. Leave to cool and firm up on a cooling rack. To be really bold melt milk chocolate and dip half the biscuit in and leave on wire rack to cool!

Valintine's Weekend

2010-02-05T02:31:00.000-08:00

Miss Courtney's Tearooms is celebrating valentines weekend by stocking up on cute love themed baking after all love is ..... home baking! Our celebration this year is "I love me" yes we love our husbands, boyfriends and possibilities too but we certainly are well capable are loving ourselves and enjoying the weekend with our friends over teas and chats.

Alice in Wonderland

2010-01-31T12:46:00.000-08:00

Tim Burton's Alice in wonderland is due for release in march 2010! We are so very excited and so ....................... I propose a Mad Hatters Tea Party ! I will post information when we have dates confirmed and let the fun begin. Also have a look at our facebook page to keep in contact with day to day items.

New year snow in killarney

2010-01-13T07:34:00.000-08:00

No doubt about it the snow and ice brought with it complications and risk and slow slow business. BUT it also made us slow down a little, drive at a snails pace and on a few days stay indoors with our family. No harm I say. Doesn't snow make everywhere so beautiful and even better I suspect the low temperatures keep some of the nasty viruses at bay. I had two amazing days sledging and messing with my husband kids and friends and I head into the new year all the happier for it. A few extra stolen days is worth all the tea in china!

Christmas countdown!

2009-12-07T03:25:00.000-08:00

Miss Courtney's loves Christmas ! We are so excited with all the festive baking arriving to the tearooms....... we hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and that you take some time out to enjoy the slower pace the holidays allow. Thank you for all your support and friendship during 2009.

Miss Courtney's Tearooms 100th Birthday Party

2009-07-08T07:18:00.000-07:00

Last night I celebrated my 1st year in business AND our 100th year in business as a family..... Miss Margaret Courtney established her business in 1909 and what a privilege it is to be at the helm 100 years later. My daughter Anna is fifth in line ..... no pressure Anna! To celebrate we held an old fashioned tea dance with 1930's swing and lindyhop by Gary Baus, afternoon tea delights, champagne and pretty dresses aplenty! I enjoyed every second of it and the dancing was so much fun I wonder if we should consider a more regular social dancing night?. It was such a pleasure to have so many old and new friends together for the night and I would really like to thank all of you for your support help and friendship over the many years. Looking forward to more fun in the years ahead.

Afternoon tea..... in killarney

2009-03-20T10:52:00.000-07:00

Miss Courtney's Tearooms adores the traditional afternoon tea .......... here is who we have to thank for it: Afternoon tea was introduced in England by Anna, the seventh Duchess of Bedford, in the year 1840. The Duchess would become hungry around four o'clock in the afternoon. The evening meal in her household was served fashionably late at eight o'clock, thus leaving a long period of time between lunch and dinner. The Duchess asked that a tray of tea, bread and butter and cake be brought to her room during the late afternoon. This became a habit of hers and she began inviting friends to join her.This pause for tea became a fashionable social event. During the 1880's upper-class and society women would change into long gowns, gloves and hats for their afternoon tea which was usually served in the drawing room between four and five o'clock.Traditional afternoon tea consists of a selection of dainty sandwiches (including of course thinly sliced cucumber sandwiches), scones served with clotted cream and preserves. Cakes and pastries are also served. Tea grown in India or Ceylon is poured from fine tea pots into delicate bone china cups.

Recently published in Munster Interiors!

2009-03-14T11:38:00.000-07:00

A visit to Miss Courtney's tearooms is a trip down memory lane, where you will be greeted with everything that is old fashioned elegant and nostalgic. Expect antique china tea sets and tea pots, hand embroidered table cloths, old fashioned cakes, loose leafed teas, traditional afternoon teas and light lunches. Sandra Dunlea is the fourth generation in the Courtney line to run a tea business here originally opened in 1909 by her great gran aunt Miss Margaret Courtney. The tearooms is a throwback to the early 1900's where old photographs of family and the local people adorn the walls. Beautiful chandeliers and vintage fabrics create an atmosphere of relaxation and one might just spend hours enjoying time out from the fast pace of modern life.

A message that made our day!

2008-08-11T12:59:00.000-07:00

Miss Courtney's tea rooms will be part of my memories for many years! My husband and I visited Killarney last weekend to celebrate our silver wedding. We came to the tea rooms twice during our 3 day stay! We really enjoyed both the excellent cream tea (especially the warm scones!) and the lovely relaxing atmosphere. It was like stepping back in time, I was reminded of tea at my Granma's house when I was a little girl. What a pity we have lost the art of taking afternoon tea, thank you for reviving it!Hope to visit you again sometime.

Best wishes for the future
Alison RigbyVale of Glamorgan
South Wales
31 July 2008 01:25

Thank you very much Alison for your lovely comments - we really appreciate it and are glad you enjoyed your trip to Kerry - congratulations to you and your husband on your anniversary.
Best wishes and hope to see you again.

Sandra and all at Miss Courtney's tearooms

Ladies at Miss Courtney's Tearooms

2008-07-29T07:48:00.000-07:00

My heartfelt thanks and appreciation to all of the wonderful staff at Miss Courtney's. All of the staff have worked incredibly hard on opening, running and improving service in the tearooms over the last few weeks. I think you'll agree we all look pretty good here too - worthy of a spot on the wall amongst the glamour of the 1940's ladies.

Opening Miss Courtney's Tearooms!

2008-07-21T12:44:00.000-07:00

Miss Courtney's Tearooms opened on the 7th of July 2008. We have received tremendous support from old friends, neighbours and huge numbers of customers from the days of the cafe and Margaret Courtney's. It has been so enjoyable meeting everyone and hearing stories from the old days. Thank you so so much to everyone - We hope Miss Courtney's will be a part of your memories in the years ahead.

A perfect cup of tea

2008-05-25T09:50:00.000-07:00

When in doubt..... trust Mrs Beeton! Mrs. Beeston's Book of Household Management is really the only necessary tool for all culinary and domestic queries.

TO MAKE TEA.

1814. There is very little art in making good tea; if the water is boiling, and there is no sparing of the fragrant leaf, the beverage will almost invariably be good. The old-fashioned plan of allowing a teaspoonful to each person, and one over, is still practised. Warm the teapot with boiling water; let it remain for two or three minutes for the vessel to become thoroughly hot, then pour it away. Put in the tea, pour in from 1/2 to 3/4 pint of boiling water, close the lid, and let it stand for the tea to draw from 5 to 10 minutes; then fill up the pot with water. The tea will be quite spoiled unless made with water that is actually ‘boiling’, as the leaves will not open, and the flavour not be extracted from them; the beverage will consequently be colourless and tasteless,—in fact, nothing but tepid water. Where there is a very large party to make tea for, it is a good plan to have two teapots instead of putting a large quantity of tea into one pot; the tea, besides, will go farther. When the infusion has been once completed, the addition of fresh tea adds very little to the strength; so, when more is required, have the pot emptied of the old leaves, scalded, and fresh tea made in the usual manner. Economists say that a few grains of carbonate of soda, added before the boiling water is poured on the tea, assist to draw out the goodness: if the water is very hard, perhaps it is a good plan, as the soda softens it; but care must be taken to use this ingredient sparingly, as it is liable to give the tea a soapy taste if added in too large a quantity. For mixed tea, the usual proportion is four spoonfuls of black to one of green; more of the latter when the flavour is very much liked; but strong green tea is highly pernicious, and should never be partaken of too freely.

Time.—2 minutes to warm the teapot, 5 to 10 minutes to draw the strength from the tea.

Sufficient.—Allow 1 teaspoonful to each person, and one over.

~ Mrs Isabella Beeton

My favourite tea quotes....

2008-05-22T07:33:00.000-07:00

"Another novelty is the tea-party, an extraordinary meal in that, being offered to persons that have already dined well, it supposes neither appetite nor thirst, and has no object but distraction, no basis but delicate enjoyment." ~Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, The Physiology of Taste

“There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea” ~ Henry James

P.G. Wodehouse, The Amazing Hat Mystery ~ "...what I feel we ought to do at this juncture is to dash off somewhere where it's quiet and there aren't so many houses dancing the 'Blue Danube' and shove some tea into ourselves. And over the pot and muffins I shall have something very important to say to you."

The cup of tea on arrival at a country house is a thing which, as a rule, I particularly enjoy. I like the crackling logs, the shaded lights, the scent of buttered toast, the general atmosphere of leisured cosiness.