DUNMORE House in Clonakilty is celebrating its 75th official year in business, having been purchased by Jeremiah and Mary O’Donovan from the Beamish family in 1934.
When Mary arrived at Dunmore for the first time and looked out at the sea below the House she Is reputed to have said ‘there is nothing here but water’. But that beasutiful setting, alongside the West Cork coast, proved to be the making of the venue.
The first guests arrived in the early 1940s but it wasn’t until 1948, 75 years ago this year, that the property was licensed for the first time.
The business was taken over by Derry, son of Jeremiah and Mary, on his marriage to Mary Dineen of Mill House in Ballinascarthy, in 1961.
Mary recounts that there were 137 guests at their wedding and they were all accommodated in the three large rooms then at the front of the main house.
In 1962 a new modern function room was added to the front to accommodate the many weddings and popular dinner dances of the time. The summer ballad sessions became legendary in West Cork, with long queues forming on Tuesday evenings to hear Sean Ó Sé, Billa O’Connell, John White and John O’Shea – the singing fireman.
Around this time, Derry and Mary also set about constructing a nine hole golf course on the lands surrounding the hotel. This was a major investment at the time and a new kitchen (with four bedrooms overhead) was added in 1972 and in 1977 the large building comprising the Ocean Suite was built.
The hotel became a destination venue in the 80s and 90s and around that time Carol, Derry and Mary’s daughter, began to work full-time in the business. In 1996 under the seaside resort tax scheme a new 15-bedroom block was constructed. This addition meant that Dunmore now became a year-round destination, welcoming guests from home and abroad.
Over the following decade new bedrooms were added and the ‘courtyard’ development comprising four self-contained units was completed. In 2015 Carol’s husband Richard retired from his work as a solicitor to work full-time in the hotel and the following few years saw the introduction of the kitchen gardens that now supply the kitchens.
In 2017 the couple’s son Peter, following his hotel studies abroad, became the fourth generation to work in the business. The pandemic gave the space to add the cliff gardens and the ocean walk along the seashore and last year the hotel’s Adrift Restaurant was recognised with a listing in the Michelin Guide.
The closing of the golf course that year allowed for the development of the ‘Ocean Club’ giving a panoramic view over the bay. Recently, the hotel hosted the glamorous annual Clonakilty Charity Ball.
