History of The Killarney Park

Our story starts in the late 1930s with a lady named Marie O’Sullivan. She came to Killarney from a nearby town, Kilgarvan, when she was about 14 years old to work at the Kenmare Arms, a hotel owned by her Aunt.  

When she was 24 years old her Aunt offered her the opportunity to buy the hotel. Marie, who was a woman way ahead of her time, she approached the Bank in Killarney, borrowed the necessary funds and sowed the seeds for a hugely successful business while raising 4 children along with her husband, a local teacher. 

Marie’s values – supreme diplomacy, modesty and humility, dedication and hard work, team alignment, community focus – is the foundation of everything we do at the Killarney Park under the overall direction of Marie’s son Padraig and his wife Janet. But these values are also integral to the other hotels owned and managed by Padraig’s siblings. 

Over time Marie worked hard along with her family and developed The Ross Hotel into a fine family business in the heart of Killarney. Marie’s Son Padraig took over the running of the business in 1980’s.

In 1990 Padraig came across an opportunity to purchase a site just down the street from The Ross and this is where The Killarney Park was built. Opened in 1992, originally the hotel opened with 55 rooms. Over time 15 more rooms were added to the hotel as well as additional amenities and services.

In 2005 The Killarney Park became a member of The Leading Hotels of the World and has gone from strength to strength as clearly identifying itself as one of the most welcoming and luxurious 5 star hotels in Ireland.

Padraig & Janet have five children who have all worked in the family business. Their two eldest children, Ciara and Marcus are very involved in the business and Ciara runs The Ross in its new format as a 29-bedroom Boutique Hotel and Marcus has been based in The Killarney Park for the past number of years.