New Hotel Kilmore boss in meet and greet
€1m investment in property over the next year
Róisín McManus
The Hotel Kilmore hosted a special reception last Thursday (September 17) to welcome members of the local community to meet the new owner and his extended team.
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Meeting the new Proprietor of the Hotel Kilmore at a special launch and dinner in the hotel on last Thursday evening. Cllr Winston Bennett; Paul Henry, General Manager of Hotel Kilmore; Matthew O’Callaghan, New Proprietor of the Hotel Kilmore; Lynda McGavigan, Director of Services Cavan County Council; Sean and Ann McKiernan, S&A Construction; Sammy and Gloria Good, Good Hire. Photos: Sean McMahon.Image 2 of 8
Fr Kevin Fay, Gerry Finnegan, Kyte Powertech; Matthew O’Callaghan, New Proprietor of the Hotel Kilmore; Paul Hendy, General Manager of the Hotel Kilmore; Anne McEntee, Kyte Powertech and Tony Finlay, House of Fabric.Image 3 of 8
Colm McCabe, Concert Promotions; Paul Henry, General Manager of the Hotel Kilmore; Matthew O’Callaghan, Proprietor of the Hotel Kilmore; Michael Fitzpatrick, Michael Fitzpatrick Architects; Neil Cosgrove, NCE Networks; Niamh Brady, Brady Construction and Sean Brady, Brady Construction.Image 4 of 8
Mary and Owen McConnon; Paul Henry, General Manager Hotel Kilmore; Matthew O’Callaghan, Proprietor of Hotel Kilmore; Ciara Barry, Group Sales and Marketing Director; Claudia Herra, Financial Controller; Charlie Galligan, Oxigen.Image 5 of 8
Brendan Jennings, Director of Services Cavan County Council; Mark O’Rourke, Chairman of Cavan County Board; Inspector Micheal O’Donoghue; Carmel Brady, Chairperson of Cavan County Council; Matthew O’Callaghan, Proprietor of the Hotel Kilmore; Superintendent Gavin O’Reilly and Paul Henry, General Manager Hotel Kilmore.Image 6 of 8
Cathal and Niamh Brady, Cavan County Councillor; Matthew O’Callaghan, Proprietor of the Hotel Kilmore; Paul Henry, General Manager of Hotel Kilmore and Martin Cahill, Head of Operations with Cavan GAA.Image 7 of 8
Senator Diarmuid Wilson; Deputy Brendan Smith; Suzanne Dunne; Matthew O’Callaghan, Proprietor of the Hotel Kilmore; Paul Henry, General Manager of the Hotel Kilmore and Cormac Dunne.Image 8 of 8
Padraig Young; Carmel Rudden; Padraic Rudden; Matthew O’Callaghan, Proprietor of the Hotel Kilmore; Kathleen Carroll; Jimmy Carroll and Deputy Brendan Smith.Matthew O’Callaghan from the O’Callaghan Family Group of Hotels, who also operate the Gateway Hotel and Fairways Hotel in Dundalk, was announced as the new owner last November after the property was acquired from the Mealiff family, which had owned the hotel for the previous 20 years.
On the night, guests were treated to a drinks and canapés reception in the hotel lobby, followed by a networking dinner in the Shantamon Suites, where Mr O’Callaghan addressed the crowd of around 150 people.
“There’s no announcement tonight, there’s no ribbon to cut, I bought a hotel in your town and it seemed to me the least I could do was to introduce myself properly and feed you while I did,” Mr O’Callaghan said, thanking everyone who has kept the hotel “busy for many years”, as well as the staff and the people of Cavan, “who walk in the doors, week in and week out.”
“A hotel is not a building,” he remarked. “A hotel is for the people who show up for it, on both sides of the door.”
Mr O’Callaghan was born in Newfoundland and his father Patrick is from Co Louth. He has lived a large part of his life in Ireland, and his stepmother Paula Bouchier is from Arva.
“While the address may have moved around, there had been a Cavan woman keeping me in line since I was a child,” he told those gathered.
His father left Ireland in the 1960s with a qualification in hospitality, and settled in Newfoundland, which, he said, is the only place outside of Ireland with its own Irish name - Talamh an Éisc or ‘land of the fish’. “What I took from him was a commitment to personal service and real care for people,” he said of his father.
During his speech, Mr O’Callaghan assured that the Hotel Kilmore is “more than ready” to support promotional tourism in Cavan, including the likes of Cuilcagh Lakelands Geopark, Killykeen and Lough Oughter.
Since taking over, the group has invested €250,000 into the development of the hotel’s IT infrastructure and a new staff room. This figure will increase to a total investment of €1M over the next year, and they will also be introducing solar energy onto the property.
The Annalee restaurant will also receive significant investment, putting “Cavan producers on Cavan plates” and ensuring that the restaurant is a central part of the town.
“I didn’t buy a building in Cavan,” Mr O’Callaghan concluded.
“I bought a responsibility and I intend to be around long enough for you to hold me to that.”