Cahernane House Hotel

Great hotels have one thing in common: they are always led by a great crew of people.
To see the personification of this principle, spend a few days in Killarney at Cahernane House Hotel, close to the Killarney lakes, and see exactly how a terrific team turn the old Herbert family mansion into someplace special. From managers Emer and Leona, to Aileen and Anna and Josephine in the dining room, and Marian and Mary at the front desk, this is a singular core crew of women.
Eric Kavanagh crossed over the hills from County Cork to run the kitchen with fluent originality and his cooking is full of intriguing swerves – whey sabayon with rock oysters; smoked puff pastry with loin of rabbit; bone and parsnip marrow with beef sirloin; malted shiitake mushrooms with slow-cooked pork; hay-infused pannacotta with chamomile granitée.
Downstairs, meanwhile, Todd in the Cellar Bar exudes that to-the-manner-born ease that Killarney natives imbibe with their mother’s milk. You will be on first name terms with all these charming people within hours, and that’s not something you can say about many Irish hotels today. Cahernane defines contemporary Irish hospitality in all its temperate ease.