Hotels & Pubs: The opening of the new McEniff Grand Canal Hotel marks the return after seven years of a famous Dublin pub. Joan Scales reports
Dubliners will be delighted to hear that the famous landmark pub, Kitty O'Shea's, returns to Grand Canal Street this month after being closed for seven years.
When Brian and Kevin Loughney opened the original pub in the early 1980s it became firmly established in the south Dublin social circuit, and its fans were dismayed when the pub closed. Kitty O'Shea's returns as part of the new McEniff Grand Canal 142-bedroom hotel on the site of the original pub.
The Loughney brothers, Kevin and Brian, will lease the bar facilities at the new hotel and will also provide the food service in the Ulysses restaurant. The Kitty O'Shea group has expanded into Europe and now has bars in Paris, Brussels, Barcelona and Madrid. There is also a Kitty O'Shea's in Boston as well as one in Galway.
The McEniff Grand Canal Hotel is the third in Dublin for the fast-expanding family group. The others are the Camden Court Hotel and the Skylon, which was purchased from Jurys last year. With 11 hotels now in the group and plans for further expansion, Sean and Brian McEniff are fast establishing themselves as one of the biggest family groups in the hotel sector.
Both brothers had owned hotels independently and decided to merge their assets to form the McEniff Group.
The merger has made it possible for the group to expand beyond their established market. Previously, Brian McEniff, manager of the Donegal GAA team for many years, ran five hotels under the Brian McEniff Hotels brand, while his brother, Seán, was the key figure in the Tyrconnell Group, comprising three hotels. Between the brothers they have 18 children and many work in the group.
The McEniff group includes hotels in the family base of Donegal, and hotels in Sligo, Mayo, and Waterford, the Tyrconnell holiday homes, and the Donegal Adventure Centre.
Their plans for 2004 include the refurbishment of the Ard Ri hotel in Waterford. The €3 million facelift began last week and will see all the bedrooms, public areas and the façade of the hotel changed.
In Bundoran, the Great Northern, a favourite hotel with families, will be adding thalassotheraphy and health treatment suites to its already extensive leisure facilities.
The Holyrood Hotel in Bundoran will also be getting a leisure centre. The Westport Woods is adding a health spa and, unusually, a new equestrian centre.
The Mount Errigal in Letterkenny has almost completed a €6 million refurbishment that adds extra conference facilities for up to 800 delegates and 40 bedrooms. In Dublin the bar at the Camden Court Hotel will have a complete facelift.
Expansion plans for the McEniff group include the possibility of a fourth hotel in Dublin, where there are opportunities. They are looking at prime cities, such as Galway and Kilkenny. Scotland and Donegal have long had links and there is a possibility of expansion into Glasgow or Edinburgh.
