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2 Night Autumn Getaway
CULINARY CREATIONS
SIMPLY PAINTING
History (Continued)
Nicholas Kelly, son of the founder William, took over the running of the family business in the mid-20’s. He was a keen photographer, filmmaker and bird watcher, and he combined all three interests by filming the huge bird colonies on the Saltee Islands. His films were shown on a regular basis to guests in the hotel. Nicholas was an avid gardener and is responsible for the proliferation of the cordyline palm tree in Ireland, having imported the first specimens from France.
Nicholas enjoyed quite a reputation as an entrepreneur around Wexford. He had the gardener plant hedge trimmings in little pots for selling on and he started a herring business in Rosslare, which supplied fish to many inland towns and villages. In spite of his many interests, both he and his wife, Kathleen were very businesslike when it came to the hotel and worked tirelessly throughout the 1930’s and 1940’s to promote it not just in Ireland but also the UK. They had three children – Patsy, Billy and Christine.
William J Kelly, known to every visitor as Billy Kelly, was born in 1927 and took over the running of the hotel in 1953 at the age of 26. He married Breda Hennessey from Emly in Co Tipperary and together they built Kelly’s into one of the leading hotels in Ireland. Billy was one of the first to train at the Shannon Hotel School under Brendan O’Regan and both he and Breda were always on the lookout for good ideas from top hotels abroad that they could adapt and use themselves. Billy and Breda gradually expanded their hotel’s open season from just three months in the 1950’s to most of the year around. They also instigated a long-running programme of extensions and renovations that included the construction of a swimming pool, squash and tennis courts and dozens of new bedrooms. Having realised early on the need to provide their guests with plenty of activities and things to do, they quickly became the country’s first and finest Resort Hoteliers, with a hotel that was just as attractive to guests in February and November as in June and July, albeit for entirely different reasons, and these paid off. They lead the way for Irish tourism growth with their pioneering ideas and set the pace and standards that are still evident today.
At home Billy and Breda worked almost as hard in the cause of the Irish Hotel industry. Billy became president of the Irish Hotels Federation in 1972 and was a founding member of the Irish Hotel and Restaurant Managers Association as well as of the Irish Hotel and Catering Institute. His contribution to the federation and to his fellow hoteliers is commemorated with the Billy Kelly Award of Excellence, which is presented every three years, to hoteliers who have excelled in the service of their own hotels and found time en route to be of service to their colleagues in other hotels.
Following Billy’s untimely death in 1977 at the age of 50, Breda continued his work with managers Austin Coady and Paddy O’Brien until the return to Rosslare of the couple’s son, Bill. During the intervening 10 years, Breda was in charge of seeing to the needs not only of the hotel and 140 staff, but also of her seven children, Mary, Anne, Liz, Kate, Bill, Vonnie and John Paul. Breda initiated the development of many of the hotel’s facilities including the indoor tennis courts and she upgraded the bedrooms and the expansion of the kitchens. One of her greatest achievements over the years has been to build up the collection of fine art, which has become one of the most striking aspects of the hotel. An evident feature of her management style has been always her genuine concern for the welfare of the hotel staff and their families. Indeed it was that concern in part that caused her to work so hard for the continued success of the hotel after Billy’s death.
Bill Kelly, the fourth generation Kelly to run the hotel and the third named William J. is known to all as Bill. He returned to Kelly’s on completion of his training at Switzerland’s famous hotel school in Lausanne, where he met his wife-to-be Isabelle Avril, daughter of leading French wine-maker Paul Avril, from Chateauneuf-du-Pape. Bill and Isabelle took over the running of Kelly’s Hotel in 1987 with the management team and have overseen a range of developments at the hotel, including the development of the Aqua Club Leisure Centre, La Marine Bar/Restaurant, the modernisation of all bedrooms (enlarged and refurbished), addition of 30 rooms, redevelopment of all ground floor areas, of Gardens, Children’s area, Reception/Gallery and the creation of the SEASPA.
In 1995, Kelly’s Resort Hotel celebrated its centenary and published ‘The Book of Kellys’ – a book dedicated to their mother Breda, detailing the evolution of Kelly’s and compiled by Bill and his sister Vonnie with Ronan Foster.
Bill and Isabelle have six daughters and continuously strive to reach the highest of standards in the running of the hotel.