The matriarch of an incredibly entrepreneurial family that has made an enormous contribution to business and community life in Killarney over many years has been awarded the highest honour the town can bestow.
Pictures: Valerie O’Sullivan
Margaret O’Donoghue of the landmark Gleneagle INEC Arena was inducted into the Order of Inisfallen by Cairde Chill Áirne at a reception in the historic Muckross House in Killarney National Park on Monday evening.
The award was created in 2005 to allow Killarney to recognise, celebrate and say thank you to a select number of people who have, in a variety of different ways, brought good to Killarney’s name and image around the country and around the world.
Margaret follows in the footsteps of very distinguished previous recipients including former Taoiseach Enda Kenny, international industrialist Isolde Liebherr, Hollywood A-lister Michael Fassbender and entertainer Daniel O’Donnell.
She becomes the first lady to receive the honour since 2018 when the recipient was Camilla, then Duchess of Cornwall and now the Queen of England.
Margaret and her late husband, Maurice, who passed away in 2001, transformed an eight-bed guesthouse into the incredibly successful entertainment complex that is now the Gleneagle INEC Arena which has attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors to the town over the years.
They were the guiding hands in the push to develop The Brehon Hotel, The Gleneagle Apartments and Scott’s Hotel as well as top class indoor and outdoor sports and leisure facilities and a concert band and the O’Donoghue family has been to the forefront of several other major developments which have been of huge benefit to Killarney, to Kerry and to Ireland.
The Order of Innisfallen award – a joint initiative between Kerry County Council and Killarney Chamber of Tourism and Commerce – was presented to Margaret by Mayor of Killarney, Cllr Brendan Cronin.
“Margaret has been the guiding hand in all that the family has achieved and, given her enormous contribution over so many years, it is wonderful that she is being officially recognised with this very important award,” the mayor said.
Event host and Muckross House Trustee, Geraldine Rosney, said the award reflected the enormous contribution Margaret and Maurice O’Donoghue have made to Killarney.
“They were a couple with a dream, a couple with a vision and a couple with get-up-and-go determination to pick up the ball and start running and running and running.
“Margaret, Maurice and their family’s achievements with the creation and building and expansion of their enterprises over the last 59 years is nothing short of monumental,” she said
Margaret said it was an honour to accept the Order of Innisfallen on behalf of both herself and the late Maurice and, indeed, their seven children, Patrick, Maurice, John, Eamonn, Áine, Shellagh and Aoife.
Margaret was one of 10 children born to Hannah and John O’Sullivan in Shanara, Beaufort. She attended school in Kilgobnet and Killorglin Community College and she began her working life in Killarney’s Great Southern Hotel.
She first met Maurice O’Donoghue, who was then studying to become a pharmacist in Dublin, at a dance in Tralee in 1961 and they were married in 1964.
Maurice’s parents, Sheila and Paddy O’Donoghue, purchased Flesk House – a Georgian House sitting on four acres – and in 1957 they opened it as The Gleneagle Hotel.
Together, Margaret and Maurice set about developing The Gleneagle into an all-inclusive holiday destination. From modest beginnings, it has flourished to become one of Ireland’s largest and most popular hotels.
The rest is not just history but a wonderful commercial success story that helps secure Killarney’s position as the premier tourist town in the country.
Final days to book Christmas advertising: Call 087-2229761 or email news@killarneytoday.com
