The West Cork Business & Tourism Awards take place this Friday, February 2nd, at The West Cork Hotel in Skibbereen. Brought to you by The Southern Star, in association with Carbery, the awards celebrate the best of West Cork business and tourism.
Meet the finalists in the Best Family-Run Business category, sponsored by Cork County Council, below.
Atlantic Sea Kayaking – Sharing the wonders of West Cork's coastline
Jim, Maria and Naoise Kennedy of Atlantic Sea Kayaking. (Photo: Andy Gibson)
JIM and Maria Kennedy were well ahead of the curve when they set up their family business, Atlantic Sea Kayaking, 30 years ago.
Operating from Reen Pier, Union Hall, using double sea kayaks as a means of transport they offer a diverse range of unique tours (by day and night) designed to share the wonders and secrets of West Cork’s coastline, its wildlife, seaweed foraging, caves, bioluminescence and star-filled night skies.
‘We recount stories of the pirates and the amazing history of the area,’ says Jim, who said that when they started out there were very few people in the country venturing onto the sea in kayaks.
‘In fact there were very few activities on offer at all in the area for tourists. We have been very involved with Fáilte Ireland promoting Ireland as an adventure destination over the years and were ambassadors for Fáilte Ireland. We also did lots of work with the schools and communities around West Cork over the years,’ he added.
The couple played an important role in founding the Irish Association for Adventure Activities and say they were fortunate to have got plenty of publicity both in Ireland and abroad.
‘This certainly helped to get West Cork out there to the world,’ said Jim.
They’ve picked up plenty of awards over the past three decades including being voted one of the top 10 activities worldwide by TripAdvisor. ‘And only last month we were voted in the top 10 activities in Ireland by National Geographic,’ said Jim.
All of the family have been involved in the business at some point, and currently on board with Maria and Jim are their sons Naoise (24) and Adam (26). In all the team comprises 16.
‘We have built a sustainable and visitor-friendly business which gives our family the option to stay in West Cork and make it even a better experience in the future which can be passed on to further generations,’ concluded Jim.
Gougane Barra Hotel – Five great generations of experience in hospitality
Neil Lucey and Katy Vaughan of Gougane Barra Hotel.
FAMILY is to the fore at Gougane Barra Hotel with the fifth generation of the Lucey family at the helm of the business overlooking St Finbarr’s Oratory and island.
‘Our family of Cronin’s moved to Gougane Barra as water bailiffs (circa 1854) and took lease of the landlord Townsend’s hunting lodge,’ explains Neil Lucey.
‘Donnacha Cronin opened a sheebeen and acquired a hotel licence for his property. In time he passed it onto his son James and Bridget Cronin. Cronin’s Hotel was established and was home to the Gaelic movement. The first Irish language training college started in Gougane in 1903. Connie, the youngest son built Gougane Barra Hotel, next door to his home in 1936. He married Joan Manning (Nana) and they ran the hotel successfully until the 1960’s. Their daughter Breda (my mother) and her late husband Christy Lucey (my father) continued the family tradition until we took over the day to day running of the hotel in 2005.’
Neil is married to Katy Vaughan from Lahinch, who he met in hotel school in Galway and their children Conor, Jane and Ali are now also part of the hotel team which comprises 32 staff at peak times.
Service is taken seriously at the 25-bed seasonal hotel,with Neil front of house, and Katy in the kitchen.
‘We genuinely love what we do. Our energy comes from our team and the many different guests we meet from all over the world every day. We want our guests to feel at home and relaxed when they are here and renewed and re-energised when they are leaving.’
He feels they offer guests an authentic experience: ‘Family-run hotels offer a natural hospitality, unforced and charming, providing an authentic experience for guests. Gougane Barra Hotel has been passed down through generations, 87 years with the same family.
‘We feel lucky and privileged to continue the tradition of hospitality in Gougane Barra and appreciate that we are the minders of something very special,’ said Neil.
The Blue Loo Bar – An important part of the community for 150 years
The Blue Loo Bar in Glengarriff.
AS well as being a popular family business, The Blue Loo Bar is also a well-known tourist attraction in Glengarriff and an important part of the community.
As its name suggests it’s painted bright blue and it’s also a reference to the nearby blue pool. Christopher Harrington inherited the bar when he was just 10 years old, after the death of his father.
‘My mother Eileen Collins stepped in until I had garnered enough life experience to take over the operations of the business. With the help of the Harrington family and especially my mother, we have now developed what was once a quaint bar in a West Cork coastal village, into a dedicated tourist hotspot, where people gather for parties, weddings, and the joy of storytelling old and new,’ said Christopher.
The business goes back five generations and 150 years and as well as being popular for tourists, it’s a very important social hub for Glengarriff and the wider community and employs a team of 12.
‘We pride ourselves in live music throughout the year, and offer the true experience of West Cork while relaxing with friends and family while you soak up the village atmosphere - and the toasty fire!’ said Christopher.
Like so many others in the trade, Covid-19 was the truetest of the business, he said, when they were forced to close their doors for the first time in 150 years.
‘However I was able to utilise this time wisely and construct a large sheltered outdoor beer garden with capacity to host large functions and a safe space for all to enjoy without any worries. With close to 5,000 accumulated followers on social media so far, it’s an honour to be part of something so beneficial to the surrounding area. I look forward to seeing what the next 150 years will bring.’
Category sponsor – Cork County Council
Supporting businesses and jobs
‘CORK County Council’s role is to promote Cork County as an attractive location for business to locate, grow and expand, for people to invest in and a place for employers and employees to work and live. The Council works to support business and the creation of employment, in co operation with enterprise support agencies, entrepreneurs, community groups, and other stakeholders.’
The Mayor of the County of Cork, Cllr Frank O’Flynn and Chief Executive of Cork County Council Valerie O’Sullivan highlight how, ‘As a Council, we support the development of the county’s industrial and commercial infrastructure, including business parks, industrial sites and incubator units. We work with international, national, regional, and local partners to promote Cork, and facilitate exports, trade and sharing of best practice. We support our local ratepayers through a variety of capacity raising initiatives as available from our Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs), retail and town centre initiatives and finally we provide financial support through the Economic Development Fund.’
In 2022, 70 businesses received LEO grant assistance totalling €1.24m with a further 143 enterprises approved under the Trading Online Voucher scheme for grants of up to €2,500 to develop and/or enhance their online presence. The Council’s LEO’s are actively working with a portfolio of over 500 financially supported businesses throughout the county employing more than 2,100 staff.
Local Enterprise Offices also provide a wide range of high-quality training and development supports designed to meet specific business requirements. In 2022, over 2,000 people were trained by the Council’s LEOs across 170 different programmes, with over 634 business participants availing of specialist free business mentors.
For those looking for somewhere to start their business, Cork County Council offers 54 units to rent comprising a mix of industrial, food, office and hotdesking. The Council also supports the ECentre project, such as Bantry and Fermoy in conjunction with bonefide community organisations together with other centres across the county and at wholly owned Council companies at Macroom and Youghal.
In conjunction with the Council’s business support offer, Cork County Council continues to be a leader in the development of the county’s tourism product and in marketing Cork abroad as a must-see visitor destination, as well as being a significant financial contributor to many festivals and events held throughout the county each year.
Cork County is the largest county in the island of Ireland. With over 7,500 km2 of land, 1,100km of coastline and 1,200 km of rivers, it has much to attract visitors. Tourism is noted as a major economic activity across the county with festivals forming a key part of the tourism economy if they are marketed well to visitors and used as a means of attracting people into a destination.
Investment in festivals can have a significant economic return for business, can assist in raising the profile of a town or region and can also provide local employment. West Cork is instrumental as an asset to attract further tourism growth and has received significant investment from Cork County Council in the areas of product development, festival supports and marketing initiatives.
Identified as a destination town, a revised scope of works are currently being finished for Bantry. Centered around decluttering existing signage, set to be replaced with new wayfinding signage, this will shortly go to tender in ongoing engagement with Failte Ireland. The works, when completed, will encourage the visitor to dwell longer in Bantry town with associated economic benefits generated.
Funding of €100,000 awarded under the Shared Island Local Authority Development Fund in late 2022 to progress a feasibility study was completed in November 2023. This ‘Four Points’ project examined potential to create sustainable tourism experiences to link and cross promote the four extreme geographic points on the island of Ireland including Brow Head in West Cork, identified as Ireland’s most southerly point. This project aims to connect cultural experiences together with the shared promotion of the interconnected projects.
Cork County Council also provides a wide range of Tourism Marketing and Festival supports. This season, a total of 20 festivals in West Cork were funded through Cork County Council’s Local Festival Fund, Economic Development Fund and General Tourism Budget to the value of €94,500. Cork County Council undertook a specialist review designed to enhance the festival programme for Leap Scarecrow Festival in order to maximise its economic impact in the off season to the West Cork economy. The development of a new website for the festival was also financially supported.
The ‘Green Your Festival’, aimed at assisting festivals implement sustainable initiatives, grant scheme continued in 2023 with seven festivals funded across West Cork. Cork County Council continued to support a number of marketing initiatives in the West Cork area in 2023 including Bantry Tourism and Development Association, West Cork Islands and the Gaeltacht Mhuscrai Region to the value of €23,000. West Cork Walking Trails continued to receive financial support in 2023 towards the costs of maintaining significant walking trails such as Sli Gaeltacht Mhuscrai, Beara Way and Sheeps Head.
Discover lots of this trails for yourself by downloading the Explore Cork’ Tourism app. The app provides over 850 places to see and things to do across a range of 19 categories, is available in 4 languages; English, Irish, French and German, can be downloaded on Apple and Google Play stores with a dedicated Trails Section to discover the county on foot. There really is something for everyone on Explore Cork. For more information on any of the topics mentioned visit www.CorkCoCo.ie
