Built in the 1780s by the Burke family, this Georgian mansion was originally known as Islington before being renamed St. Clerans. The house underwent significant Victorian alterations in the 19th century, adding Gothic Revival elements that gave it a more castle-like appearance, complete with crenellations and pointed arch windows.

The estate gained international fame when film director John Huston purchased it in 1953, transforming the somewhat neglected property into a glamorous retreat that hosted Hollywood royalty throughout the 1960s. Huston, who had fallen in love with Ireland whilst filming “The Quiet Man”, spent considerable resources restoring the house to its former glory, filling it with Japanese art, pre-Columbian artefacts, and an impressive collection of paintings. During his tenure, guests including Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, and Peter O’Toole wandered the halls, whilst Huston bred horses, painted in his studio converted from the old stables, and filmed several of his movies on the grounds.

After Huston sold the property in 1973, St. Clerans changed hands several times before being purchased by Merv Griffin, the American television presenter and media mogul, in the late 1990s. Griffin converted the estate into a luxury boutique hotel, carefully preserving Huston’s legacy whilst adding modern amenities. Today, visitors can stay in rooms once occupied by Hollywood legends, dine in the same spaces where Huston entertained his famous friends, and explore the 45-acre estate with its walled gardens, ancient trees, and the ruins of a 15th-century Burke castle that predates the current house. The property serves as a fascinating window into both Anglo-Irish architectural history and the golden age of cinema, when County Galway briefly became an unlikely outpost of Hollywood glamour.