Charting the evolution of a hotel like Kelly’s Resort Hotel & Spa in Rosslare over the course of a century is about more than merely recounting when building work began and when various extensions and facilities were added on. It is about sketching the comings and goings of the people who have visited and worked in the hotel over the last hundred years and of the people who come and go today.

Kelly’s Resort is so much a part of the village of Rosslare, and it is such a major part of the reason for Rosslare’s popularity as a holiday destination, that the history of Kelly’s is closely tied with the history of the village.

William J and Mary Kelly, the founder of Kelly’s Hotel was born in 1856. He was an accountant by profession, and came to the idea of opening tearooms at the age of 37 while working at Nunns. He applied for permission to build his project in 1893 on a site provided by his wife, Mary’s family. Two years later, in 1895 Kelly’s Tea Rooms opened. Mary and William raised six children.

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