Corrigans monstrous hotel project close to fully reopening

Seamus Enright

The Virginia Park Lodge Hotel is close to fully reopening, after new owner Richard Corrigan, admitted his hand was forced in bringing forward refurbishment plans on his multi-million euro “punt” by the shores of Lough Ramor.
Already supplying vegetables from the estate’s 100-acres to the chef’s London restaurants: Corrigan’s Mayfair, Bentley’s Oyster Bar and Bentley’s Sea Grill in Harrods, Mr Corrigan has personally overseen restoration of the house and grounds since paying a reported €1.1 million for the landmark property back in 2013.
The lodge was built in 1610 as a hunting lodge for the Marquis of Headfort. Three-time winner of Great British Menu, Mr Corrigan has spent several million euros more bringing the hotel, or ‘hometel’ as he refers to it, up to spec, and it  already has a steady stream of bookings for the summer months.
“We’re heading into the final phase before opening,' he told the Celt. 'It was suppose to be a five-year project, but I’ve speeded things up a little bit.
“The condition of the building was so bad when I took it on, you couldn’t mess around with it. Starting out. Finish. Then starting out again. My hand was forced really to get the work done now instead of leaving it, and it taking up years of my life to get it finished.” 

Elegance
Among those to have already sampled the elegance of the lavishly refurbished property and its grounds have been representatives from Disney in Los Angeles, organisers of the Guth Gafa independent documentary film festival, and governors from Colorado.
With the property in a “sorry state” when he first took it over, Mr Corrigan admits there is still work taking place in many parts if the fullness of the planned redevelopment is to be realised. That includes the opening of a semi-professional cookery school and restaurant, capable of creating up to 80 permanent jobs in-house and in the gardens for the local area.
“For the moment at least you have to hide the builders - ‘Don’t open the broom closet, there’s a tiler in there’. There is a lot other things to do, maintenance and other things. It's a lot of responsibility.
“It's hard to think what is a vision for this estate, you have to create it,” he says.

At home
Richard was speaking to the Celt at official launch of the Cavan Walking Festival 2015, which took place at the Park Hotel, and was attended by Minister for Arts and Heritage, Heather Humphreys. A Meath-native Mr Corrigan says he feels very much “at home” now in Cavan.
Having cheffed in the Hotel Kilmore, Cavan Town during his formative years, residing on Farnham Road, there is a further link between Mr Corrigan and the county in that Park Hotel is where he and his wife Maria married.
“I just came back from Paris yesterday (Thursday), and I arrived back into this place (Park Hotel) and said to myself, ‘Jesus, yeah! I feel at home here’. That’s a good feeling,” says Richard, whose arrival to the county has enhanced the county’s reputation as burgeoning culinary capital in Ireland.

Launches
However, while the Park Hotel is near opening, Mr Corrigan says he does not expect to celebrate the fact with an official opening, instead preferring to let the response of customers dictate the roll-out of the business.

“I don’t really do launches,' he said with a hint of irony given he was hosting one for the walking festival. 'There’s nothing like the freedom of the marketplace to let you know whether something is up or down.”

“Life is just a cycle. You make money, you spend money. Realistically I took a punt on this place. I said to myself, ‘Let’s do it up over five years’ when I bought it initially. We’ve done as much work outside as we’ve done inside.
“No-one seems to understand that. There are two teams running this place at the minute, one in the house, and one in the gardens. So there is an equal spend in both places. It's just monstrous - but what a beautiful place! It is a pitch perfect, beautiful piece of property, with the ground, the lake, the whole package.”