Say goodbye to Northern Ireland’s most eligible bachelor.
Yes, Rory McIlroy is about to tie the knot with fiancee Erica Stoll.
This world-famous wedding will take place this weekend at Ashford Castle in County Mayo, Ireland, near the small Village of Cong. It’s a five-star hotel set on 350 beautiful acres of Irish countryside.
It’s a familiar place for Rory and Erica, they celebrated the past two New Year’s Eves there.
The Castle can accommodate 164 guests and Rory’s got the place reserved for two nights.
The setting is no stranger to high-profile celebrities.
John Lennon stayed there, so did Princess Grace of Monaco, Ronald Regan, Jack Nicholson and Art Garfunkel. Brad Pitt has been a guest, Rod Stewart too. Pierce Brosnan held his second wedding there in 2001. The resort has been named the No. 1 resort in Great Britain and Ireland. Fancy.
But Ashford Castle got its first taste of fame back in June of 1951 when Hollywood’s Academy Award-winning director John Ford brought the production of the movie The Quiet Man to County Mayo. It starred two huge Hollywood box office names — John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara. Wayne, O’Hara and most of the cast and crew stayed at Ashford Castle while they filmed in the neighboring Village of Cong.
The movie was nominated for Best Picture. It won a Best Director Oscar for Ford and won the Oscar for Best Cinematography.
For John Wayne fans, it was a superb movie, one of Wayne’s best.
Today, visitors to Ashford Castle can visit the nearby village where the movie was filmed, the locals have cashed in with tours and turned some of the landmarks in the movie into visitor destinations.
But it’s doubtful any of the McIlroy-Stoll wedding party will be visiting. Rory’s got plans for Ashford Castle.
The British rock group Coldplay is McIlroy’s favorite band. They’ll be playing at the wedding reception and another U.K. star, Ed Sheeran may play as well. He’s buds with McIlroy too.
Niall Horan from the band One Direction will be on the guest list. He’s a good friend of McIlroy.
Look for members of the Ryder Cup team to be invited as well.
Some are billing this one as “The Wedding Of The Decade.”
What we do know is that McIlroy will spare no expense for the celebration. If Cold Play does indeed perform at the reception, the group typically charges $750,000 for a private appearance. Maybe Rory gets the “friends” discount. Cost for a private performance by Sheeran normally runs $125,000.
McIlroy has been trying to keep the details of the wedding itself private but that’s a tough task when you’re one of Europe’s most high-profile athletes. Miami’s South Beach was the setting for McIlroy’s bachelor party last weekend.
After the wedding, McIlroy did say that he and his bride will honeymoon for 10 days “in the middle of nowhere.”
“It’s a great time in our lives,” McIlroy did say during the Masters. “And it’s all about that over the next couple of weeks. “And I’ll come back at The Players refreshed and a married man and start a new chapter.”
