Some locals have taken to calling the Co Kerry town’s Park Hotel “the Tate Kenmare”. It’s a humorous take on the subtle transformation of the historic and luxurious five-star hotel on the shores of Kenmare Bay, and it tickles and touches Bryan and Tara Meehan, who bought the Park from Francis and John Brennan in 2023.
Same gracious rooms and manicured gardens, but the 1897 hotel’s aesthetic and dynamic are subtly altered by the Meehans’ extensive collection of Irish and international art. Gone are the gilt-framed landscapes and heavy mirrors, and everywhere – in the entrance lobby, along the corridors, stepping the gracious stairwells, in the bedrooms – there is art: Andy Warhol, Dorothy Cross, Elizabeth Colomba, Guggi, Park Seo-Bo, and more.
The restaurant is renamed the Landline, after Sean Scully’s series which boldly proclaims his presence. Opposite, an Annie Morris tapestry over the fireplace.
On the stairs, Theaster Gates reclaims canvas fire hoses turned on the 1963 civil rights protesters in Birmingham, Alabama, transforming them into art. In the library is a striking exhibition (until December) of French photojournalist Gilles Caron’s images of the Battle of the Bogside in Derry, published in Life magazine.
Irish businessman and Blue Bottle Coffee founder Meehan has collected all his life. Growing up in Dublin, when his parents had spare money, “rather than put it in the bank or under the mattress, they’d buy a painting. One of my first memories is from 1977, of them coming home with a set of Maurice MacGonigal watercolours!”.
The Park Kenmare collection is open to the public as well as hotel guests, with regular art tours.
