Latest news with #Kenmare
BreakingNews.ie
a day ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Motorcyclist (30s) seriously injured in Co Kerry collision
A male motorcyclist in his 30s was seriously injured in a single-vehicle collision in Co Kerry on Monday morning. The collision occurred at around 11.30am at Moll's Gap in Kenmare, Co Kerry. Advertisement The motorcyclist was brought by ambulance to University Hospital Kerry with serious injuries. Garda Forensic Collision Investigators examined the scene, and the road has reopened. Gardaí have appealed for witnesses to the incident to come forward, and any road users who may have dash cam footage and were travelling on the N71 in the Moll's Gap area between 11.10am and 11.40am have been asked to make their footage available to investigating gardaí. Anyone with information has been asked to contact Killarney Garda Station on 064 6671160, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any garda station. Investigations are ongoing, a garda statement said.
Irish Times
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Gourmet getaways: The best places to eat and drink in Kenmare
There's no shortcut to Kenmare – you've got to earn it street by street. Past the houses still marked with an 'L' over the door – the Lansdowne estate symbol – past the dates carved into granite lintels, past the shops run by the people who live above them. The Co Kerry town shaped by continuity, where the line between home and business is often a staircase, and where almost everything worth eating is made by someone who lives within shouting distance of the kitchen. Karen Coakley's Kenmare Foodie Tours is the best way in. The stops change depending on the day, but what holds is the format: a short walk, a direct introduction, a story and a lot of food. The Brennans are first. At Brook Lane Hotel, it's a husband-and-wife team. Úna runs the floor and Dermot does the food – not just in the kitchen, but on the land. Their saddleback pigs are raised a few kilometres away, free-range and fed seaweed for immunity. They're slaughtered locally, and Dermot processes the meat himself – the white pudding, the sausages, the terrines. The tasting on the tour, hosted by their daughter, Megan, includes slow-cooked pork ribs, a sausage roll – rich, flaky, pork–heavy – and a warm slice of pudding with a house–made brown sauce. At their town restaurant, No 35, the same pork turns up as burgers, roast joints and black pudding salad. The next stop is Heidi Ryan's, a food shop named after the owners' grandmothers – Heidi and Ryan. Sabine von Burg is Swiss and Aidan Slevin is from Tipperary. The shop began as a farmers' market stall. It's now one of the best food shops in Ireland, in terms of both sourcing and simplicity. Vegetables come from Billy Clifford and from Mary, a grower in Killarney. There are duck eggs, foraged mushrooms, apple juice from nearby farms and vinegar by Fionntán Gogarty, who left architecture for fermentation after the crash. Charcuterie is by Olivier Boucher, and cheeses by Gubbeen, Coolea, Durrus and Lost Valley Dairy. Everything is sold by weight or portion – minimal packaging, no waste. If you want a wedge of cheese, you say how much. READ MORE Then to Maison Gourmet. It's a small, daytime cafe with highly coveted outdoor seats and an indoor seating area to the back. It looks like a French patisserie because it is – started in 2016 by Emma and Patrick Peuch, who moved to Kenmare when their sons began working at The Park Hotel (one a chef, one in training). They launched with one French pastry chef. Now, during high season, the team runs to more than 20, with a full rota of overnight bakers and counter staff. The croissants are laminated with French butter – they tried Kerrygold early on, but it was too soft to hold structure. The starter for the sourdough is kept alive daily – even taken on holiday. Cakes, tarts, brioches and patisserie are made fresh on site, and there is a tantalising array of millefeuille, pear amandine, strawberry tarts and eclairs in the glass display shelves. From pastry to chocolate. Benoit Lorge, from Lorraine in France, and his partner, Yolanda Serrano from Madrid, run a tiny chocolate shop, Lorge Chocolatier, farther down the street, offering some of Ireland's best small–batch chocolates. They are produced less than a kilometre from where they're sold. The tasting includes milk chocolate with local cream, dark chocolate with tonka bean, and black garlic praline that is intense and balanced, not at all gimmicky. Lorge uses beans from west Cork roaster Dave Barber and Beara sea salt in his caramels. The hot chocolate is made from couverture and draws swimmers and walkers year round. [ Gourmet Getaways: The best places to eat and drink on a weekend break in Galway Opens in new window ] Blasta Cafe is run by Martin Hallissey, in the house where he grew up. His mother is Maura Foley, one of Kenmare's most renowned chefs. She headed up the kitchen at The Limetree before moving on in the 1990s to open Packie's. Hallissey subsequently took over as chef there. It has since closed, and his new environment is filled with pastries – savoury and sweet – from pork and leek swirls in puff pastry to rhubarb crumble tartlets and bread-and-butter pudding with raspberries. Cakes include old–school favourites like lemon drizzle cake, rhubarb and almond, and chocolate biscuit cake. There are a few seats outside, perfect for people watching as you eat. Patrick and Emma Puech, who came to Kenmare to visit their son seven years ago, and never left, opening Maison Gourmet on Henry Street. Photograph: Valerie O'Sullivan Chocolatier Benoit Lorge at work on a giant Easter egg. Photograph: Andrew Downes Martin Hallissey at Blasta cafe The last stop on the tour is the Tom Crean Brewery. It's run by Aileen Crean O'Brien and her husband, Bill Sheppard, and is named after Aileen's grandfather, the Antarctic explorer. The beers are brewed on site, powered by solar, and infused with story as much as flavour. Their Expedition Red Ale marked the family's own journey to South Georgia. Kerry Surf & Turf is brewed with seaweed and boiled turf to give an ancient taste of Kerry. Six Magpies Stout and St Brigid's Lager both picked up national awards. All the beers are additive–free, vegan and brewed in small batches in a modest space behind the restaurant. The taproom is open 5pm–7pm and Saturday tours run at 3pm. That's the loop. And it's not just a trail of independent producers – it's a mirror of the town. Nearly every stop is run by a couple, or is a generational handover, or someone who came here once, fell for the town and simply never left. [ Gourmet getaways: The best places to eat and drink in Connemara Opens in new window ] Across the street from the Tom Crean Brewery, the Lansdowne Hotel is where you stay if you want to be in the middle of it all. Patrick and Aileen Hanley took it over in 2024. It was where Patrick grew up; his mother used to cook in the hotel when he was young. There's no spa, no pool – just good rooms, a relaxed cafe and the Shelbourne Street restaurant, which has a separate entrance from the street. The Nead, the light‑flooded hotel cafe, serves an impressive full Irish breakfast using quality produce and has an all‑day menu. The outside terrace – which captures the sun early in the day – is particularly popular. The Shelbourne Street Restaurant is quite a step above what you might expect – more town restaurant than hotel diningroom. On the menu you will find dishes such as chicken liver pâté with Heir Island bread (Aileen trained there), Tom Crean lager‑battered cod and a particularly good smoked bacon chop with charred cabbage. It's the sort of unfussy food that you often want to eat on holiday, and clearly there's a competent chef in the kitchen. Dining at the Park Hotel, Kenmare Across the road, Park Hotel Kenmare changed hands in late 2023, when Bryan Meehan acquired the property from the Brennan brothers. Since then the art collection – which is being added to on what seems like a daily basis – immediately signals a big change in direction. Gone are the ancestral portraits and in come Dorothy Cross, Sean Scully and Theaster Gates. The first piece to go up – The Rose by Michael Craig‑Martin – replaced a Victorian portrait, a relic of English rule. More than 80 works hang throughout the hotel, with a guided art tour running daily. Gates's powerful work, made from repurposed fire hoses of the kind once turned on civil rights protesters, and Dorothy Cross's foxglove bronze, cast from her own fingers, are prominent in the lobby. The fine-dining restaurant, The Landline (which is open to non‑residents), takes its name from a Scully painting and matches the tone with its food. Dinner might open with a seaweed tart filled with crab. Local prawns are paired with confit chicken, and a pea velouté is poured tableside over the ham hock. A lamb dish includes rump, sausage and shoulder inside a morel, and the meal finishes with a beautiful raspberry soufflé with crème Anglaise and ice cream. Brendan Byrne at Lagom Restaurant, Henry Street. Photograph: Valerie O'Sullivan Sheen Falls Hotel, Kenmare Just around the corner, Brendan and Liz Byrne run Lagom. The name comes from the Swedish word meaning 'just the right amount' – a guiding principle here. The space reflects it with pale woods, birch saplings, soft light and clean lines. The menu is short, the food cooked almost entirely on a Big Green Egg. A squid ink crab croustade with cucumber and dillisk is sharp and theatrical. Goat's cheese tortellini arrive in beetroot borscht. A lamb rump is oak‑seared and plated with cannelloni and roast apple. Vegetables get equal billing – miso‑glazed carrots, baby broccoli and great roast potatoes. Dessert is a semifreddo with Champagne‑marinated rhubarb, served as an 'iceberger' sandwich between slices of gingerbread. A wonderful way to finish. [ Gourmet getaway: The best places to eat and drink on a weekend break in Limerick Opens in new window ] Sheen Falls Lodge sits just outside town, with a spectacular view overlooking the river Sheen. Mark Treacy is head chef at The Falls restaurant, delivering precise, produce‑led dishes rooted in classical technique. The large terrace at the more casual restaurant, The Stable Brasserie, is a bit of a secret, so worth heading to on a sunny day when outside tables are perpetually full in Kenmare. Farther afield is The Boathouse Bistro on the waterfront at Dromquinna Manor estate. Up early, Bean & Batch is where you go for coffee and breakfast. Jamie O'Connell and his husband, John Hallissey, opened it in 2022. The ovens in their nearby bakery crank up at 3.30am. The egg salad sandwich is delicious in that old‑fashioned way – chopped egg, tomato, onion, and lettuce on white batch bread. Sausage rolls are pork and apple, wrapped in crisp pastry. Lemon tarts layer curd and sponge. John's mother's apple tart is always on. Definitely one to order. For something old‑school and with a view, head to Josie's, looking out on to Glanmore Lake with a stunning backdrop of the Caha Mountains. There are picnic benches for al-fresco dining, and a south‑facing window catches the evening light. The well‑priced menu includes langoustines in garlic butter, fish and chips and a memorable dish of Irish stew with deeply flavoured lamb. Dessert is a jelly‑heavy trifle, which could do with a further splash of sherry for a truly home-made flavour. [ Eat your way across Mayo: From garden to grill, the county is fast becoming a food destination Opens in new window ] Farther west, Helen's Bar sits close to the water at Kilmackillogue Harbour, with a substantial number of picnic tables on Bunaw Pier. The open crab sandwich on soda bread with Marie Rose sauce and salad is the thing to order. Mussels, scallops, and fish and chips round out the menu. From there, head down the coast road to An Síbín in Lauragh – a former 1762 coaching inn now run by Katherine Murphy as an atmospheric wine bar and restaurant, with stone walls, wood‑burning stove and low ceilings. The menu mixes local with farther afield: house‑made ravioli, flatbreads, jamón Ibérico, braised beef, mussels, and fish and chips. An Sibín The Buddhist centre of Dzogchen Beara in Co Cork offers stunning views of Bantry Bay. Photograph: For another kind of detour, head to Dzogchen Beara, a Tibetan Buddhist retreat at Garranes on the Beara Peninsula. Set on 150 acres, it has a spectacular view overlooking the Atlantic. It was founded in 1974 by Peter and Harriet Cornish, who donated the property to a charitable trust; it is a joy to know that the expanse of ethereal beauty will be preserved. The vegetarian cafe serves soups and salads made from what's grown on‑site, with freshly made bread. You can stay the night if there are cottages available, or just eat and walk. Finally there's a bottle of vermouth that turns up on several drinks lists around Kenmare – and on Karen's tour if the timing's right. Valentia Island Vermouth is made by Anna and Orla Snook O'Carroll, who began by steeping foraged gorse and orange peel in jam jars in their kitchen. Their flagship white, called Ór for its lovely golden colour, now ships nationwide and many of Kenmare's restaurants, including Mulcahy's and An Síbín Winebar, stock it. Ask for a V&T and you're in for a treat. The vermouth is made with a base of organic Verdejo wine, blended with wormwood, gentian root, heather and about 20 other botanicals. Everything is cold‑infused – no stills, no boiling, no artificial shortcuts. Their small production unit on the Kerry coast beside the Valentia ferry is closed to the public, but they have plans to open a visitors' centre. Their red vermouth, Rua, is in development, built around rose, vanilla and dark chocolate. What marks Kenmare out isn't just the quality of the cooking – though that's high – but how much of it comes from people who've been doing it here for decades: families who breed pigs, bake the bread, ferment the vinegar and cure the charcuterie. You eat here and you taste the hands that made it – sometimes still flour‑dusted, sometimes pouring pints of stout brewed in the shed out the back. Walk the streets and you'll find chefs cooking in the houses they grew up in, chocolate made a kilometre from where it's sold, sourdough starters with their own passport. It's not manufactured – it's Kenmare. And that's what makes it better. Corinna Hardgrave was a guest of The Park and Lansdowne Hotel Where to eat and stay in Kenmare Brook Lane Hotel, Casey's, Killarney Road, Gortamullin, Kenmare, V93 T289; Heidi Ryan's, Bridge Street, Kenmare, V93 C653; Maison Gourmet, 6 Henry Street, Kenmare, V93 A7KE; Lorge Chocolatier, 18 Henry Street, Kenmare; Blasta Café, 29 Henry Street, Kenmare, V93 Y152; Tom Crean Brewery, Killowen Road, Kenmare, Co Kerry, V93 Y6KX; The Lansdowne, Main Street, Kenmare, Co Kerry, V93 YRC8; Park Hotel Kenmare, Shelbourne Street, Kenmare, Co Kerry, V93 X3XY; Lagom, 36 Henry Street, Kenmare, Co Kerry, V93 E28P; Sheen Falls Lodge, Kenmare, Co Kerry, V93 HR27; The Boathouse Bistro, Dromquinna Manor, Sneem Road, Kenmare; Bean & Batch, Killarney Road, Gortamullin, Kenmare, V93 C868; Josie's Lakehouse, Lauragh, Co Kerry, V93 X9ER; Helen's Bar, Kilmakilloge, Co Kerry; An Síbín Winebar, Lauragh Lower, Lauragh, Co Kerry, V93 T4C2; Valentia Island Vermouth,
BreakingNews.ie
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- BreakingNews.ie
Derry Girls' Saoirse-Monica Jackson pays homage to her roots in Irish wedding
Derry Girls star Saoirse-Monica Jackson and her DJ fiance celebrated their Celtic heritage as they married in a three-day celebration in Ireland. The 31-year-old, who plays schoolgirl Erin Quinn in the hit comedy, wore a cream dress with puff sleeves as she wed Hector Barbour, known as Denis Sulta, just outside of Kenmare in Co Kerry, according to British Vogue. Advertisement Derry Girls co-star Jamie-Lee O'Donnell wore a long green Rat & Boa dress and attended as one of the bridesmaids while Jackson was walked down the aisle by her father to a cover of the TV show's theme song Dreams by The Cranberries. Speaking to Vogue, Jackson said of the celebrations: 'Everybody said that the whole weekend was like something from a movie, and it really was. 'I want to do it again.' Jackson's dress transformed for the evening, which included shortening the skirt and reversing the corset to reveal a tartan side. Advertisement There were nods to the bride's mother and mother-in-law's wedding dresses featured in the design of Jackson's custom Annie's Ibiza dress, she told the publication. Barbour proposed with a custom ring during a trip to a beach in Donegal while the pair were wearing Dryrobes and Crocs, their pair told Vogue. Jackson said Barbour had written down everything he said during the proposal which she enjoyed being able to read back. The couple originally thought they would get married abroad in order to have an outdoor celebration but settled on Ireland in order to pay tribute to their shared Celtic heritage, they told Vogue. Advertisement Derry Girls co-star Jamie-Lee O'Donnell served as one of Jackson's bridesmaids (Liam McBurney/PA) Barbour, who is Scottish, wore a kilt and feathered hat for the ceremony, along with his groomsmen. In a post on Instagram with photos from the celebrations, Jackson wrote 'to infinity and beyond' and included a video of the pair embracing, with her husband lifting her up on the dancefloor. In another post featuring videos from the day, she wrote 'to all our loved ones, you are everything'. One of the clips shows Jackson posing in her wedding dress joking 'she's a shy bride, a very shy bride' and later asking 'When's the kissing?' Advertisement Jackson can be seen sipping a pint of Guinness in a photo while a video features the bride dancing with O'Donnell, who played fellow schoolgirl Michelle Mallon in Derry Girls. The Bafta award-winning series, created and written by Lisa McGee on Channel 4, follows a group of teenagers growing up in Northern Ireland in the 1990s before the Good Friday Agreement.
RTÉ News
10-08-2025
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Kirby and Rafferty secure historic gold medal at U19 World Rowing Championships
Jonah Kirby (Kenmare) and Jack Rafferty (St Michael's) have made history by securing Ireland's first men's U19 world gold medal at the 2025 World Rowing Championships in Trakai, Lithuania. The junior men's double took gold in today's A final in challenging conditions with a strong headwind. At the 500-metre mark, the Irish duo began to push away from the field and had clear water by 900 metres. Their lead continued to grow throughout the race, and they crossed the line with two lengths of clear water in a time of 6 minutes, 39.57 seconds. Junior women's double Sophia Young and Aoife Hendy finished fifth in their A final. Sitting in sixth for much of the race, they surged past Poland and battled with Hungary for fourth but narrowly missed out, crossing the line in 7:55.30. Junior men's quadruple scull Evan O'Byrne, Mattias Cogan, Bill Murphy and Harry McCarthy won the B final. Sitting in second after the first 500 metres, the crew moved into the lead in the second quarter and held their position despite late sprint finishes from Belgium and France, crossing the line in 6:20.48. Junior women's four Anna O'Grady, Cloda Phillips, Isabella Wright and Sarah Rockett placed second in this morning's B Final. The crew led through the halfway mark, but a strong push from Croatia saw them cross the line in second place in 7:24.55. Ireland's junior men's four Daniel Crozier, Tommy Little, Richard Heaslip and Paul Schofield finished fourth in the B Final. At the 1000-metre mark, the crew sat in fifth, but they overtook Serbia to cross the line in fourth place, clocking 6:41.04. It was a landmark regatta for Rowing Ireland, with every crew finishing inside the world's top ten.
Irish Times
17-07-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
Man who pleaded guilty to electoral fraud worked for Healy-Rae company, Fine Gael senator claims
A man who pleaded guilty to election fraud worked for a company owned by the Healy-Rae political family in Co Kerry, a Fine Gael senator has claimed. Senator Michael Kennelly said: 'We had voter impersonation at a Kenmare polling station at the local and European elections in June 2024 caught on CCTV.' Raising the issue in the Upper House, he referred to the case in Kenmare District Court earlier this month. 'A Cahersiveen man pleaded guilty but avoided a conviction for election fraud after he used a polling card not in his name that went missing from a vehicle. READ MORE 'It is even more extraordinary to learn, as every dog and divil in Kerry knows, that the defendant works for the Healy-Rae Plant Hire company.' Using Seanad privilege, the Listowel Senator said the defendant was 'cited in court as a farmer and a contractor, but his employer, the Healy-Rae firm, was unusually not identified, even though he has worked for it for years'. Mr Kennelly said he had called for a 'thorough investigation into the facts of the incident', adding that 'we still need clarity as to how this was quietly hushed up'. He said the issue 'has made a mockery of our democracy'. Mr Kennelly added: 'There have been no answers as to how this man got the polling card before he drove 40 miles (64km) from his home to vote in another town. 'He did not acquire it himself, the court was told, so who exactly gave it to him?' Offering further information, he said: 'This guy was not even asked for identification. To say we are running proper registration on voting day is wrong. We do not know how many of these cases exist.' The Healy-Rae Plant Hire company is owned by the family of Independent TD Danny Healy-Rae. Contacted for comment, Mr Healy-Rae said: 'I have no comment.' Mr Healy-Rae is brother of Minister of State for Agriculture, Michael Healy-Rae. Mr Kennelly, a Senator on the Labour panel, also highlighted another case in Kerry in 2019. A decision is still pending from the Director of Public Prosecutions in relation to that case. He said: 'This case centres on allegations that, ahead of the May 2019 local elections, a Garda officer, in the Killarney electoral area, stamped hundreds of supplementary voter registration forms without the applicants being physically present, which is a legal requirement. 'An Garda Síochána launched a formal investigation led by a superintendent from outside Kerry and a file was prepared. As of April 2024, GSOC forwarded a file to the DPP, with a decision still pending. This is over six years ago. When will we see this case brought to a conclusion?' He added that every 'fraudulent vote cancels out the voice of a lawful voter'. He pointed out that he won a seat in the 2014 Listowel local elections by two votes. Mr Kennelly called on Minister of State for Local Government, Christopher O'Sullivan, 'to clean up the whole voting process, to review the cases I have mentioned and to make sure that everything possible is done to eradicate this kind of behaviour'. Mr O'Sullivan said he could not comment on individual cases but he agreed 'fraudulent behaviour in the voting process strikes at the core of democracy'. He added that he does not think it happens widely, but stated: 'Where it is blatant and obvious and someone has been caught red-handed, I agree there should be serious consequences'.
