The wonderful Club House Hotel was the venue for the St Mary’s Voluntary Housing Association annual Christmas dinner. A large gathering enjoyed a beautiful meal in Kilkenny’s longest established hotel. It was the first establishment of its kind in the city to take the name of ‘hotel’ in place of the old term ‘inn’. They got the name ‘Club House’ from the Kilkenny Foxhunters’ Club, which was established on Patrick Street in 1797 by Sir John Power. In 1817, to exploit the opening of the new Cork Road, it was formed into a hotel. Apart from catering for weary travellers, the hotel provided accommodation and sustenance for hunt members who were too exhausted (or not exhausted enough) to go home .
Managing director of the hotel, Ian Brennan, welcomed the group from St Mary’s and said he was thrilled to work with the group on an ongoing basis. Chairman of St Mary’s, Eamon Corcoran, welcomed the gathering and paid special thanks to the Club House for their usual excellent service. Eamon paid special tribute to the staff of the hotel who always go above and beyond with their wonderful service.
In 2005, St Mary’s parish built houses and apartments on the land and it now includes St Mary’s Day Care Centre which provides a range of activities including meals, recreational activities and health promotion. The centre is just a hop, skip, and jump from The Kilkenny Observer office on Friary Street and so on Christmas week we were thrilled to join in the Christmas get together and lunch.
There was laughter, chat and stories. A lot of stories. Providing the music and creating a fantastic atmosphere was Kilkenny musician and singer Johnny Scully who played the proverbial blinder.
What a fantastic afternoon it was.
