Arguably Kinsale's Most Famous
Tudor Style Bed & Breakfast
Proud to be awarded a Four Shamrock Rating from Doras
Sunday Times,
Susan d'Arcy - "run by the colourful
Carmel Kelly-O'Gorman, which is all four poster beds and eccentric touches"
Sunday Telegraph,
Allan Bestic - "another of her specialities is smoked salmon with scrambled egg.
When it comes to Breakfast, it beats most five star hotels out of sight"
Cork Examiner
Maureen Fox, -
"The Lighthouse is not just a place to sleep it really is an
experience"
Sunday Express,
Kevin Wilson - " a tourist board establishment owned by the highly entertaining
Carmel Kelly-O'Gorman"
Harpers and Queen, Charles
Glass -
"a charming place to stay in Kinsale is The Lighthouse"
Lady Golfer
John O’Connor, president
of the astonishing Old Head Golf Links at Kinsale, suggests “If God
played gold he would play at the Old Head and stay at The Lighthouse.
Now The Almighty is probably too clever to ever get himself involved in
a game as maddening as golf but anyone, and I mean anyone, would surely
become lit up by The Lighthouse.
This establishment, and I
use the expression with great deliberation, is not a hotel and it is not
B&B. It is small and exclusive, but it is open and exuberant. It is
eccentric but extremely comfortable. When you are in Kinsale and you
ask directions to The Lighthouse, they don’t send you a few miles down
the road to the point of Old Head, they send you up the hill to The
Rock, where the delightful Carmel Kelly-O’Gorman will illuminate your
stay with a mixture of grand Irish charm and vibrant enthusiasm. The
rooms are lovely – four posters, keys colour-coded with silk. They are
en-suite and imbue a haven-like atmosphere. Antiques abound. Many of
the rooms have panoramic views of Kinsale harbour. But they are only
things.
The Lighthouse is The
Lighthouse because of Carmel Kelly-O’Gorman who clearly believes that
life is the true celebration. And so she sparkles and laughs and
listens and talks. She serves her food and her obvious enjoyment at
being able to afford her ultimate completely un-patronising brand of
hospitality in large portions.
Kinsale is known as the
gourmet capital of Ireland and – naturally – Ms Kelly-O’Gorman knows
where to direct you, depending not only on your gastronomic leanings but
your state of mind. It is right that The Lighthouse is
internationally acclaimed as arguably the most famous accommodation in
Kinsale, Any such place must, of course,
conform to certain functionalities.
But no tourist board could
really put into words why The Lighthouse could truly offer an
explanation as to why, when you leave, you just feel so much better than
when you arrived.
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