Not far from the capital is a detox haven where the treatments, massages and at least one good lie-down refreshed and restored Madeleine Keane, though she did end up raiding the biscuit tin. Portrait by David Conachy
Health springs eternal
To detox or not to detox? There's no question really. Living, loving, working, playing, mothering at the beginning of the 21st century is an invitation to toxins. Coffee, chemicals, booze, pollution, fatty foods, nicotine, drugs, stress -- all these play their part in building up our toxin levels. Obviously, only some of the above touch my life, but enough of them to say a very enthusiastic 'Yes' when the gang at Powerscourt Springs asked me to come down and detox.
I've been a devoted advocate of the Enniskerry spa since I first went there many moons ago, eight months pregnant with my second child. I love the place for the kindness and friendliness of its staff, the range and breadth of the treatments offered and the sumptuous food.
Snuggled into the Wicklow Hills, the Springs is a cosy home from home where your every whim is indulged. You don't really go there to suffer or be deprived. But I was staring down the barrel of a long, hectic winter and thought I should face into it mentally and physically in my prime.
To derive the full benefit, I detoxed for the six days prior to my arrival. So out went alcohol and red meat without so much as a backward glance. Wheat, dairy and caffeine proved harder bedfellows to dislodge, but I cut down significantly.
On arrival, there was a consultation with the in-house nutrition consultant, Joyce, all about my lifestyle (busy), stress levels (ranging from high to off the Richter scale) and dietary and exercise regimes (both reasonable, but in need of improvement). She also explained how their detox programme worked and what would be expected. Then, it was into a dressing gown and a long lie-down in the darkened Tranquillity Room.
Proceedings kicked off with a gorgeous organic pomegranate and cranapple all-over body scrub. The exfoliation helped prep the body for detox. Then, I was moisturised and massaged with a seaweed-based cream -- my skin felt wonderful.
Reflexology is part of the detox package and, as regulars know, is an indulgent, invigorating treatment. This treatment involved my feet and calves being massaged. The Chinese believe each area of the foot relates to a different part of the body. My reflexologist told me that all my organs were in very good shape (happy days) but that the area between my shoulder blades was very tense. He was right -- whiplash from a car crash had left this area very tender. I was in my early 20s when the accident happened and, while I was young enough then to absorb the pain relatively easily, two decades, three pregnancies and a lot of trauma and tension later, this is the part of me that really creaks when the pressure gets going. (A masseuse once told me my back felt like a concrete wall.) However, a neck and back massage the next day worked wonders.
For such a laid-back, relaxing place, you pack a lot in. During our short stay, we also managed a couple of swims and saunas, a few long walks, a yoga class, aqua aerobics and a stint or two in the Jacuzzi.
The downside to all this activity and pampering was the food. It was good, but if you're on the detox menu prepare to watch wistfully while your fellow guests horse into steaks and bottles of Merlot while you dine dutifully on poached salmon and steamed vegetables washed down with cranberry juice. There's nothing wrong with the food -- indeed, a dessert of baked bananas was delicious -- but the detox menu could do with a bit more planning and variety.
So did I cheat? Well, yes. One morning, while no one was looking, I slipped my hand in the cookie jar and had two digestive biscuits. Talk about living dangerously. But I felt brilliant when I left and of course one of the great charms of the Springs is its location: I was back in Retoxville -- in more ways than one -- before I knew it.
