{"id":587090,"date":"2026-08-08T14:46:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T14:46:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/587090\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T14:46:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T14:46:10","slug":"beyond-the-park-hotel-john-brennans-next-great-act-has-already-begun-at-dromquinna","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/587090\/","title":{"rendered":"Beyond the Park Hotel: John Brennan’s next great act has already begun at Dromquinna"},"content":{"rendered":"

When\u00a0I meet Shelly Maguire, CEO of the Blue Book, and tell her I\u2019m travelling to see John Brennan\u2019s new gardens at Dromquinna, she tells me this is his legacy project. She should know \u2014 thanks to a long history with the Park Hotel Kenmare<\/a>, the Blue Book and the Brennans have been working together for decades.<\/p>\n

But John waves off the compliment with a good-natured brush of the hand. All this talk of legacies would involve ego, and John Brennan doesn\u2019t have time for that kind of thing.<\/p>\n

Heading into his 14th season of At Your Service, he eschews celebrity, hates being recognised.<\/p>\n

No, his ambitious vision for the gardens will be\u00a0 Dromquinna\u2019s legacy, he clarifies, not his own.<\/p>\n

And it is quite the vision.<\/p>\n

A 10-year project, they are only 18 months in. And the plans are pioneering. John and Gwen Brennan want Dromquinna to be a destination, not just for its glamping and renowned weddings, but for its gardens. His inspiration? Gravetye Manor, designed in the 1800s by Irish-born William Robinson, and recently declared by Vogue as one of England\u2019s most beautiful gardens.<\/p>\n

It all began when John and Gwen stopped off at the Scilly Isles off the coast of Cornwall. They paid for the tour of Tresco Abbey Gardens. As is his way, John saluted one of the team on the grounds, and did an about turn when she responded with an Irish accent. He took note, he laughs, of her dirty fingernails \u2014 this was a woman, he thought, who knew soil.<\/p>\n

Two years later, his eyes on the 40 acres of land at Dromquinna, he found himself struggling to find the right person to transform the land. They all had clean fingernails he recalls, laughing. And so he sought out the young woman who he met those years ago at Scilly. She was no longer working there but a couple of days later he had a call. She was now based at the gardens at Airfield, near John Brennan\u2019s childhood home. It was like a sign.<\/p>\n

He began to describe his vison for Dromquinna.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou want Gravetye,\u201d she declared.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that was it,\u201d said John. \u201cI knew I had my woman.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"GwenGwen and John Brennan. Picture: Miki Barlok<\/p>\n

It all aligned, but John is slow to give in to the easy concept of fate.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe in it alright,\u201d he says, pausing for effect. \u201cBut you have to push it a bit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today, phase one of this mammoth undertaking is complete with the opening of a new glasshouse and gardens where once there was just road and grass.<\/p>\n

We visit for its quiet launch for locals, a violist playing The Beatles under the shade of a tree. It is idyllic \u2014 and a world away from the Dromquinna estate John and Gwen bought in 2011. He shows photos on his phone of a dilapidated manor house.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was no roof,\u201d Gwen recalls, \u201cand there was even a tree growing in one room.\u201d<\/p>\n

The grounds were so overgrown it took them six months to find the tennis courts.<\/p>\n

Yet they fought for years to buy it.<\/p>\n

It lay abandoned for a decade.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019d pass the gate twice a day,\u201d says John.<\/p>\n

\"GwenGwen and John Brennan. Picture: Miki Barlok<\/p>\n

Initially, John says, the aim was for it to be an insurance policy \u2014 a viable business in case the luxury market failed to reboot after the Celtic Tiger collapse.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a very difficult period,\u201d says John. \u201cWe were very lucky because we had just done our first episode of At Your Service in 2008. So all of a sudden we had a national profile, which we didn\u2019t have to buy or pay for because it was a television programme. So we did all right during the very, very difficult years. But we did not know what was going to be the future of the Park Hotel and if we were going to be able to stay in business or not. The luxury market was stagnant at the time and if we didn\u2019t make the money at the front reception…\u201d<\/p>\n

Initially, it proved difficult to determine who even owned Dromquinna. It had moved between consortiums, with plans at one point to build 64 houses on the waterfront site. Then, when AIB put it on the market, interest was high. Well-known chefs and high-profile businessmen approached John for advice on this prime Kenmare site \u2014 land John had his eye on for years.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan you believe that,\u201d says John, still incredulous.<\/p>\n

Eventually, in 2011, John and Gwen secured the manor house and its 40 acres. On the morning, he got the call, he was due to film for At Your Service. It also just so happened to be the day John was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma. As is his practical, pragmatic way, he simply got in the car and drove to set.<\/p>\n

There was cancer treatment to get through, and the Park Hotel to manage \u2014 yet somehow, they hosted their first wedding at Dromquinna just 14 months later. In the meantime, Dromquinna\u2019s signature glamping tents were pitched. At that stage it was obvious this was far more than an insurance policy. It was a labour of love.<\/p>\n

Today, three years on from the sale of the Park Hotel, this family business is run by John, Gwen, and their 29-year old son Adam \u2014 who returned from a career sailing yachts around the world to manage the property with his parents in 2024.<\/p>\n

\"GwenGwen and John Brennan at Dromquinna. Picture: Miki Barlok<\/p>\n

The\u00a0refurbishments have been constant \u2014 the Potting Sheds were renovated as alternative accommodation options; the larger Bolt Hole sleeps six, Blackberry Lodge has room for 12.<\/p>\n

The next project is the gate lodge \u2014 it will be a two bedroom suite at the entrance gates. Today we meet at Shutters, the stunning waterside bar that sits alongside the celebrated Boathouse restaurant. The upmarket glamping communal area has a fire for smores, alongside a games room for kids. This is camping \u2014 but not as we usually know it. Breakfast baskets are delivered to the tents every morning, with pastries and fresh coffee.<\/p>\n

All beautiful, memorable touches, but the vision, the legacy, right now is centred on the gardens \u2014 with William Robinson\u2019s Gravetye the inspiration.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery other garden designed at the time was the manicured English garden \u2014 the four paths, the round bit in the middle with the fountain… But William Robinson created a wild garden at Gravetye,\u201d says John.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the Park Hotel, we had gardens, but we never had a plan, and we would decide to do this this year and that next year, and then the following year we didn\u2019t have any more money and we couldn\u2019t do that. Plus we had a whole load of gardeners who chopped and changed every five or six years, and they all brought their own vision of what they wanted to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"DromquinnaDromquinna gardener Holly. Picture: Miki Barlok<\/p>\n

He was determined that Dromquinna wouldn\u2019t suffer the same fate. And so he headhunted the girl with the dirty fingernails at Tresco. Eighteen months ago, horticultist Holly McQuillan moved to Kenmare, joining the team at Dromquinna as head gardener.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s in the DNA. Her mother works in the Botanic Gardens in Dublin,\u201d says John. \u201cI said, \u2018you\u2019re made for Dromquinna, come down\u2019. So we put together a plan in broad terms. The first phase was the glass house, and the planting around glass house.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe spent the last 10 years getting the place under control. That was the first element.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, John\u2019s vision is to create an Alice in Wonderland garden, a dreamy sanctuary where you turn a corner and discover something new. The cliff walk, with its pathway to a bridge that guides you to a little island, is a taste of what\u2019s to come.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a practical reasoning behind this new business venture too. John sees the potential revenue stream these gardens could deliver, especially if glamping and weddings fall out of favour. He\u2019s determined too that the manor house be kept in tact, so it has potential for a variety of uses.<\/p>\n

\"AdamAdam Brennan. Picture: Miki Barlok<\/p>\n

He doesn\u2019t, he says, want his son Adam to feel obliged to take Dromquinna on. Not that he has anything to worry about on that front. After years at sea, often in the world\u2019s most exotic locations, Adam sees his future firmly in Kenmare.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always knew I\u2019d come back and I can\u2019t see myself ever leaving,\u201d he says. We chat as he returns from a laundry run to Limerick, followed by some DIY repairs on the basketball hoop on the camping grounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, I wake up excited to go to work,\u201d he says, adding that his own wedding will be hosted there in time. \u201cI have been working in hospitality since I was young \u2014 I was too small to work behind the bar so they had me stacking shelves at the Park. Later on I was washing dishes at Dromquinna.\u201d<\/p>\n

It can\u2019t be easy, a mother, father, and son working together. But Adam disagrees. Perhaps the trick is that there are no job titles.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s an equal respect that goes in three directions,\u201d says Adam. \u201cThey aren\u2019t mum and dad at work \u2013 they are John and Gwen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"DromquinnaDromquinna Manor. Picture: Miki Barlok<\/p>\n

He is as enthused as his parents about the plans for Dromquinna\u2019s 40 acres. It\u2019s the midst of the heatwave when we chat to Holly, and she has just returned from annual leave. She can\u2019t wait to get out to the gardens, she says, to protect her water-starved plants.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m following the principles of Gravetye,\u201d she says, echoing John\u2019s vision. With every tree planted, she is, she says, sowing the seeds now for what\u2019s to come in 50, even 100 years time.<\/p>\n

Sitting in the stunning surrounds, on land that was once earmarked for 64 houses, there\u2019s a relief in knowing the estate is in safe hands. As well as the ambitious plans for their destination gardens, the Brennans say they will never build on the 40 acres \u2014 they will only refurbish existing buildings.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it would be wrong for the house not to be proud of its grounds,\u201d says John.<\/p>\n

All comes back to legacy \u2014 Dromquinna\u2019s legacy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When\u00a0I meet Shelly Maguire, CEO of the Blue Book, and tell her I\u2019m travelling to see John Brennan\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":587091,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[187201,93,61,60],"class_list":["post-587090","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-kerry-news","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587090","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=587090"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587090\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/587091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=587090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=587090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=587090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}