'Fortune' magazine has named it as one of the world's best retirement spots, but you don't have to be old to move to Kenmare. Philip Watson meets some of the quality-of-lifers who have made the Kerry town their home
The prestigious US business magazine Fortune made an unlikely pronouncement a few years ago. In a comprehensive survey of the world's best places to retire, Kenmare was ranked in the top 20. The Co Kerry town was up there with Boca Raton, in Florida, Maui, in Hawaii, and the Luberon region of France. Praised for its mild climate, business opportunities, lively pubs, and "quintessential Irish coastal beauty", Kenmare also scored top marks for golf and fishing, as well as for nearby "strolls down deserted country roads".
No other places in Ireland got a mention; Kenmare's closest competition came from the cultural life and health services of London.
For the town's residents, however, the results came as little surprise. The Irish name for Kenmare is Neidín, meaning "little nest" or "little cradle"; it is a suitably poetic description for a town that sits snugly between the gentle waters at the mouth of Kenmare Bay and the foothills of Macgillycuddy's Reeks.
The town's graceful 18th-century facades and stretches of ornate plasterwork are highlighted today by a characteristic primary-colour scheme of deep and electric reds, oranges, purples and greens. It is this peerless blend of town and country that has always attracted visitors to Kenmare, be they weekenders from Dublin or, increasingly, as the people profiled here illustrate, downshifters and quality-of-life seekers from across Ireland, Europe and the US.
The allure of Kenmare's laid-back lifestyle has led, inevitably, to pressure for expansion, and the town has embraced the "financial narcotic of the property boom", to use one of David McWilliams's phrases, more readily than most places in Ireland. Swathes of land have been rezoned for housing, and in the past three years large estates have sprung up beside every road out of town.
The developments have resulted in the criticism, echoed by almost everyone I spoke to, that Kenmare is losing its character, that the golden goose is being strangled. Traffic and parking problems, and late-night rowdiness, are on the increase; friendliness and politeness, many contend, are on the decrease.
It is a truth universally acknowledged, however, that a town's blow-ins prefer to maintain the status quo and its locals prefer change. "All Irish towns and cities are rapidly changing and developing, and I suppose Kenmare couldn't stay a secret forever," says Pat Gath, who lives and runs two businesses in the town. "Word has got out, and more and more people are going to want to live and buy holiday homes here. I prefer the old Kenmare, and the town seems a mess during this transition period, but there are two things that can't be taken away: Kenmare's historic centre and its heavenly location. Some things, hopefully, are priceless."
ALAIN BRAS, SHOPKEEPER
Alain Bras was born and raised in the Aveyron region of southern France. In 1984 he became restaurant manager at Whites on the Green, in Dublin; then, in 1987, he set up his own restaurant, De La Fontaine, in Limerick. He began visiting Kenmare regularly on holiday and says he was instantly drawn to the look and feel of the town.
"I liked the combination of Kenmare being a cleverly laid-out heritage town surrounded by incredibly beautiful and rugged countryside," he says. "I was also attracted to the happy cocktail of proud local people and the many foreigners who had settled here. It seems to create a town with an extraordinarily open mind in which visitors are welcomed."
After his marriage broke up, in 1993, he started to look for work in Kenmare, becoming the sommelier at Sheen Falls Lodge two years later. He worked at the five-star hotel for seven years, and in 2004 he represented Ireland in the World Sommelier Championship in Athens (he finished in the top 10).
Leaving to teach a restaurant and wine course at Shannon College of Hotel Management, in Co Clare, he lasted only three months. He couldn't stand spending the week away from Kenmare and his fiancee, Christine, whom he had met in the town. "It was a very good job, but being away from Kenmare made me realise that it's truly special and that I could not give it up."
Bras and Christine now live in a four-bedroom house on a new estate on the edge of town and have a one-year-old son named Oisín (Bras also has three teenage daughters from his first marriage).
Last year they opened an attractive wine and greetings-card shop in Kenmare named Vanilla Grape (12 Henry Street; 064-40694). Situated in a building owned by Christine's family, and previously a general grocery shop, the space had stood empty for 16 years - ever since, in fact, Christine's mother, Joan O'Sullivan, had retired. The new shop sells an impressive and discerning range of wines, coffee, cigars, handmade chocolates, and cards, and it makes good use of the original wooden counter and shelves. It has, Christine says, brought a new lease of life to the shop and to the family, who continue to live above the premises. "There's a wonderful spirit and buzz of activity about the place again, and my mother is in great form altogether," she says. There was also great goodwill towards the couple when the shop opened. "We received messages of support and good luck, presents, flowers even," says Bras. "There's a soul to this town that is not just about the originality of its design and beautiful setting. It's down to the locals, the genuine community spirit."
SARAH AND DAVID MacGINTY, INTERIOR DESIGNERS
Sarah and David MacGinty had been running a thriving interior-design business in London's Chelsea Harbour for nine years when, in 1998, they decided to move to Kenmare. They had been holidaying in the town up to three or four times a year and were increasingly falling in love with the place. London life was also starting to grind them down.
"I can remember standing in the street in London and the revelation hit me like a bolt of lightning," says Sarah. "It seemed to me that the entire motivation for everyone scurrying around was money alone. And I thought to myself, I don't buy into this whole competitive rat race; I do not want to spend my entire life just generating money. The whole point about the change we have made is to say our lifestyle is more important than what we have in the bank."
David was born in Dublin, and he spent much of his teenage years boarding at Newbridge College, in Co Kildare. He moved to England to continue his education and worked for 15 years in
sales and design for such high-profile companies as Harrods, Alfred Dunhill and the home furnishings group Casa Pupo, where he was managing director.
He met Sarah in 1986 and they married in 1989, the year they set up MacGinty Designs. Sarah had previously worked for the London interior-design firm Toynbee Clarke and for the surveyor of the queen's works of art.
"Before we moved to Kenmare I dragged Sarah all over Ireland, because I felt we couldn't move here on the basis of having only seen Kerry," says David. "But every time she'd say: 'It's nice, but it's not Kenmare.' " The couple were drawn, they say, to Kenmare's striking combination of water and mountains. "I think it brought out my Scottish ancestry," says Sarah. They also liked the atmosphere in the pubs, the sophistication of the restaurants and the town's international feel. "Because of all the people who had moved to Kenmare from Europe in the 1970s and 1980s, you didn't feel that you stood out, that you had a luminous sign above your head reading 'foreigner'."
They now run their business (macgintydesigns@eircom.net), concentrating on top-quality, high-budget house design and development throughout Ireland, from their home in Killaha, three kilometres (two miles) outside Kenmare. It is a clever and dramatic 465sq m (5,000 sq ft) house with poured-concrete floors, oak beams, high ceilings and large windows that look out to Kenmare Bay and Macgillycuddy's Reeks. "We work hard, but a policy decision we made from day one was that we would rather turn away a project than employ full-time staff again," says David. Sarah agrees. "Work doesn't take a back seat," she says. "It's simply that, in Kenmare, it's in proportion to the rest of our lives."
ROELY AND PETER MARTIUS, TRENDSETTERS
Peter Martius was probably the first person from the Continent to settle in Kenmare. Born in Haarlem, in The Netherlands, he first came to the town in 1967, aged 24. As well as the beauty of the surrounding countryside, he says he had heard Kenmare had one other important attraction. "A friend of mine who had been to Kenmare said to me: 'Oh my God, you've never seen anything like it. All the men have gone to find work in Dublin, London or America, and there's seven women to every man.' So I left almost the very next day."
On his first night in Kenmare he left his passport and money on a pub counter. "The next day I found them exactly where I left them, completely untouched. That would never have happened in Holland. People were so relaxed, friendly, welcoming and trusting of each other. From that moment I fell in love with Ireland and Kenmare."
Two years later he met a property developer and fellow Dutchman, Ernest Weeland, who had recently bought Clashnacree House, near Sneem. Peter worked for Weeland for the next 25 years, living in and restoring his house and helping him to sell local land, property and holiday homes to Dutch people. "Every time a local priest criticised us and told his parishioners they were selling their heritage to foreigners, that very same Sunday we would get dozens of phone calls from farmers looking to offload some land."
In 1978 Weeland bought the Park Hotel, and Peter again helped with the renovation and improvements. Although the hotel was sold to Francis Brennan in 1984, Peter continues to work there, helping with general maintenance and upkeep. He is a painter and craftsman, and gifted with his hands, and he says he was never interested in financial reward. "Money isn't my game; it doesn't interest me."
In 1981 he met Roely Kunst while she was on holiday at the Park. She was from The Netherlands, too, from Groningen, and she also fell for the place and the people. They married and moved into Clashnacree, and in 1993 bought an old, long-abandoned farm cottage on 20 acres in Tahilla, 10 miles from Kenmare.
Out of the ruins and overgrowth they have created a remarkable home with a spectacular six-acre informal garden of specimen rhododendrons, azaleas, camellias and tree ferns. It is a symbol of their love of the rugged Kenmare landscape and of their natural, laid-back approach to life.
"Holland is overpopulated - all the land is used up - and everything is so organised and manicured," says Roely. "This a beautiful wilderness near the water, and we feel privileged to live here. It's really a little bit of paradise."
ROB ZIEGENFUSS, RETAILER
Rob Ziegenfuss first came to Kenmare in 1989, when he was 16. He was born in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, and his American parents had a holiday home in Killarney. Initially he didn't like the town. "I was used to the city life of Philadelphia, and Kenmare seemed too small, drab, grey and boring in comparison," he says.
After his parents divorced and he moved permanently to Killarney a year later with his mother and brother, Brandon, he started to spend more time in Kenmare, and gradually it grew on him. "I started to appreciate the stunning beauty of the town and its surroundings," he says. "When you come over the bridge into Kenmare and look down Henry Street to the church, the spire and the mountains beyond, even on an overcast day you won't find a sight like it anywhere in the world."
He went backpacking around Ireland and Europe, and thought often about returning to the US to work in his father's car business and to be closer to his undying passions of baseball and American football. Yet somehow, he says, he knew he would end up in Kenmare. "I can remember thinking to myself that if I ever meet someone, get married and start a family, this is the place I'd like to do it."
In 1994 he met Mary McSweeney from nearby Ballingeary, who was working in Quills woollens shop in Kenmare. They married in 1999 and have two daughters, Amy, who is four, and Emma, who was born in May.
Ziegenfuss started working in 1993 with Johnny O'Connell, who had a carpet and furniture business in Kenmare. With O'Connell's support and encouragement, he gradually took over the running of the furniture operation; Ziegenfuss now has a successful 2,200sq m (24,000 sq ft) showroom
on Killarney Road named Kenmare Furniture (064-41404). "The name of the company was the easy part," he explains. "The word 'Kenmare' was always going to be included, because it's a five-star brand name." Even Ziegenfuss's e-mail address is kenmare1@eircom.net. He and Mary now live in a large house on the edge of town, the original, 19th-century part of which was destroyed in a fire in 1991, while he and his mother were living in it.
"It was pretty devastating, but about the only good thing to come from it was the reaction of our friends and neighbours," he says. "People gave us food and blankets; they opened their doors to us; they even offered us their homes. I know you might get that in other parts of Ireland, but that's something I will never forget. Kenmare may have changed enormously in the past 17 years, but it's still small enough for the idea of caring for your community to really mean something."
'I can't think of many other towns that would have been so tolerant'
PAT GATH, GALLERY OWNER
When Pat Gath first drove to Kenmare, in 1980, for an interview as a trainee manager at the Park Hotel, he took the scenic lake road over the mountains from Killarney. "I got as far as Moll's Gap and thought: I must be lost; I'll go back," says Gath, who was born and brought up on a farm near Kilcormac, in Co Offaly. "The landscape was so wild, and there was nothing there: no houses, people, cars, anything. I couldn't believe there could be a town farther on." He persevered, however, and Kenmare made an instant impression.
"I remember driving down Main Street, and I was struck by Kenmare's location, nestled between the sea and the mountains, and by what a fine-looking town it was. Even though I was only 19, and all I lived for was drink and sport, something just clicked, and I had an image in my mind that I was going to end up here." Gath now runs two businesses: the Mill Cove Gallery (12 Main Street, 064 40717, www.millcovegallery.com), which displays contemporary Irish art, and HouseProud (21 Main Street, 064-41869, www.neidin.net/ houseproud), a shop selling kitchen equipment and housewares.
His path to the town has, however, been circuitous. Gath left the Park Hotel in 1981, and over the next 16 years he worked in hotels in Germany, Scotland and Switzerland, took a business-studies and hotel-management course in Galway, was employed in a catering business in Boston and was manager of such well-known Dublin restaurants as Le Coq
Hardi and La Stampa. In 1998 he moved back to Kenmare with his partner, Martin to work at one of Kenmare's best restaurants, Darcy's. He ran the restaurant until the end of 2005; Martin has worked as a driver with Pro Cars (see Sandra and Bruno Schmidt interview) for the past 10 years.
"We were welcomed with open arms by the vast majority of people when we came here, and I can't think of many other small towns in Ireland that would have been quite so tolerant," says Gath. "There's been a great diversity of people visiting and living in Kenmare over the past 20 years or more, and I think it's given the town a broader outlook."
A few years ago, Gath and Martin bought an elevated site in Templenoe, near Kenmare, that has views of Kenmare Bay; they start building a house there this summer. In the meantime, Gath says he's happy living above HouseProud in the centre of town. "Within minutes of finishing work I can be walking out to the pier or cycling on the Beara. That accessibility to nature, that quality of life, creates, for want of a better word, a great karma about the place."
SANDRA AND BRUNO SCHMIDT, ENTREPRENEURS
Bruno Schmidt was 11 in 1975, when his family moved from Bruges, in Belgium, to Killaloe, in Co Clare. After finishing school he moved back to Belgium, where he met Sandra. In 1989 they moved to Kenmare, as Bruno was offered a job as a pastry chef at the Park Hotel. It was a big change from Sandra's city life in Bruges, and she admits that she did not take to the town at first. Bruno, however, was instantly enthusiastic about making a life there. "I think Kenmare is one of the most beautiful places on earth," he says. "Scenery is a big thing for me, and the town is situated at the foot of three amazing peninsulas: the Iveragh, Beara and Dingle. I also loved the friendliness and personality of the place. You'd walk down the street and everyone would say: 'Hi, how are you doing?' "
After a year, though, the couple went back to Belgium, married and had their first child, Sarah, who was the tragic victim, aged three months, of a cot death. Their son, Seán, who is now 14, was also born in Belgium. The pull of Kenmare and "its unique balance of work and play" were never far away, however. The couple returned to the town in 1992, after Bruno secured his previous job in the kitchen at the Park. He graduated to head chef a couple of years later, and in 1995, aged 27, he won the hotel's restaurant a coveted Michelin star. In 1998, spotting a gap at the top end of the tour-bus and chauffeured-car business, they set up Pro Bus & Car from an office in Kenmare (064-42500; www.probusand car.com).
Business has thrived. Bruno and Sandra now have 26 coaches and cars, employ up to 84 people in the summer and turn over more than €1.5 million a year. As well as arranging luxury tours and transport around Co Kerry, Co Cork and the southwest generally, they also have exclusive contracts in Dublin with the Four Seasons Hotel and the Department of Foreign Affairs. "It would really make more sense for us to move to Dublin, because that's where the business is, but we're staying in Kenmare, as this is definitely the best place to bring up our kids," says Sandra.
The couple now have four other children: 10-year-old Michael, six-year-old Jordan, three-year-old Melanie and 14-month-old Enya. They also have a sleek new 360sq metre (3,850 sq ft), five-bedroom house in Templenoe, just outside Kenmare, that has fine views of Kenmare Bay. "Kenmare is just so relaxing," she adds. "We have stress in our business, but, somehow being in Kenmare, it's so much easier to handle."
After a year, though, the couple went back to Belgium, married and had their first child, Sarah, who was the tragic victim, aged three months, of a cot death. Their son, Seán, who is now 14, was also born in Belgium. The pull of Kenmare and "its unique balance of work and play" were never far away, however. The couple returned to the town in 1992, after Bruno secured his previous job in the kitchen at the Park. He graduated to head chef a couple of years later, and in 1995, aged 27, he won the hotel's restaurant a coveted Michelin star. In 1998, spotting a gap at the top end of the tour-bus and chauffeured-car business, they set up Pro Bus & Car from an office in Kenmare (064-42500; www.probusand car.com).
Business has thrived. Bruno and Sandra now have 26 coaches and cars, employ up to 84 people in the summer and turn over more than €1.5 million a year. As well as arranging luxury tours and transport around Co Kerry, Co Cork and the southwest generally, they also have exclusive contracts in Dublin with the Four Seasons Hotel and the Department of Foreign Affairs. "It would really make more sense for us to move to Dublin, because that's where the business is, but we're staying in Kenmare, as this is definitely the best place to bring up our kids," says Sandra.
The couple now have four other children: 10-year-old Michael, six-year-old Jordan, three-year-old Melanie and 14-month-old Enya. They also have a sleek new 360sq metre (3,850 sq ft), five-bedroom house in Templenoe, just outside Kenmare, that has fine views of Kenmare Bay. "Kenmare is just so relaxing," she adds. "We have stress in our business, but, somehow being in Kenmare, it's so much easier to handle."
After a year, though, the couple went back to Belgium, married and had their first child, Sarah, who was the tragic victim, aged three months, of a cot death. Their son, Seán, who is now 14, was also born in Belgium. The pull of Kenmare and "its unique balance of work and play" were never far away, however. The couple returned to the town in 1992, after Bruno secured his previous job in the kitchen at the Park. He graduated to head chef a couple of years later, and in 1995, aged 27, he won the hotel's restaurant a coveted Michelin star. In 1998, spotting a gap at the top end of the tour-bus and chauffeured-car business, they set up Pro Bus & Car from an office in Kenmare (064-42500; www.probusand car.com).
Business has thrived. Bruno and Sandra now have 26 coaches and cars, employ up to 84 people in the summer and turn over more than €1.5 million a year. As well as arranging luxury tours and transport around Co Kerry, Co Cork and the southwest generally, they also have exclusive contracts in Dublin with the Four Seasons Hotel and the Department of Foreign Affairs. "It would really make more sense for us to move to Dublin, because that's where the business is, but we're staying in Kenmare, as this is definitely the best place to bring up our kids," says Sandra.
The couple now have four other children: 10-year-old Michael, six-year-old Jordan, three-year-old Melanie and 14-month-old Enya. They also have a sleek new 360sq metre (3,850 sq ft), five-bedroom house in Templenoe, just outside Kenmare, that has fine views of Kenmare Bay. "Kenmare is just so relaxing," she adds. "We have stress in our business, but, somehow being in Kenmare, it's so much easier to handle."
After a year, though, the couple went back to Belgium, married and had their first child, Sarah, who was the tragic victim, aged three months, of a cot death. Their son, Seán, who is now 14, was also born in Belgium. The pull of Kenmare and "its unique balance of work and play" were never far away, however. The couple returned to the town in 1992, after Bruno secured his previous job in the kitchen at the Park. He graduated to head chef a couple of years later, and in 1995, aged 27, he won the hotel's restaurant a coveted Michelin star. In 1998, spotting a gap at the top end of the tour-bus and chauffeured-car business, they set up Pro Bus & Car from an office in Kenmare (064-42500; www.probusand car.com).
Business has thrived. Bruno and Sandra now have 26 coaches and cars, employ up to 84 people in the summer and turn over more than €1.5 million a year. As well as arranging luxury tours and transport around Co Kerry, Co Cork and the southwest generally, they also have exclusive contracts in Dublin with the Four Seasons Hotel and the Department of Foreign Affairs. "It would really make more sense for us to move to Dublin, because that's where the business is, but we're staying in Kenmare, as this is definitely the best place to bring up our kids," says Sandra.
The couple now have four other children: 10-year-old Michael, six-year-old Jordan, three-year-old Melanie and 14-month-old Enya. They also have a sleek new 360sq metre (3,850 sq ft), five-bedroom house in Templenoe, just outside Kenmare, that has fine views of Kenmare Bay. "Kenmare is just so relaxing," she adds. "We have stress in our business, but, somehow being in Kenmare, it's so much easier to handle."
After a year, though, the couple went back to Belgium, married and had their first child, Sarah, who was the tragic victim, aged three months, of a cot death. Their son, Seán, who is now 14, was also born in Belgium. The pull of Kenmare and "its unique balance of work and play" were never far away, however. The couple returned to the town in 1992, after Bruno secured his previous job in the kitchen at the Park. He graduated to head chef a couple of years later, and in 1995, aged 27, he won the hotel's restaurant a coveted Michelin star. In 1998, spotting a gap at the top end of the tour-bus and chauffeured-car business, they set up Pro Bus & Car from an office in Kenmare (064-42500; www.probusand car.com).
Business has thrived. Bruno and Sandra now have 26 coaches and cars, employ up to 84 people in the summer and turn over more than €1.5 million a year. As well as arranging luxury tours and transport around Co Kerry, Co Cork and the southwest generally, they also have exclusive contracts in Dublin with the Four Seasons Hotel and the Department of Foreign Affairs. "It would really make more sense for us to move to Dublin, because that's where the business is, but we're staying in Kenmare, as this is definitely the best place to bring up our kids," says Sandra.
The couple now have four other children: 10-year-old Michael, six-year-old Jordan, three-year-old Melanie and 14-month-old Enya. They also have a sleek new 360sq metre (3,850 sq ft), five-bedroom house in Templenoe, just outside Kenmare, that has fine views of Kenmare Bay. "Kenmare is just so relaxing," she adds. "We have stress in our business, but, somehow being in Kenmare, it's so much easier to handle."
After a year, though, the couple went back to Belgium, married and had their first child, Sarah, who was the tragic victim, aged three months, of a cot death. Their son, Seán, who is now 14, was also born in Belgium. The pull of Kenmare and "its unique balance of work and play" were never far away, however. The couple returned to the town in 1992, after Bruno secured his previous job in the kitchen at the Park. He graduated to head chef a couple of years later, and in 1995, aged 27, he won the hotel's restaurant a coveted Michelin star. In 1998, spotting a gap at the top end of the tour-bus and chauffeured-car business, they set up Pro Bus & Car from an office in Kenmare (064-42500; www.probusand car.com).
Business has thrived. Bruno and Sandra now have 26 coaches and cars, employ up to 84 people in the summer and turn over more than €1.5 million a year. As well as arranging luxury tours and transport around Co Kerry, Co Cork and the southwest generally, they also have exclusive contracts in Dublin with the Four Seasons Hotel and the Department of Foreign Affairs. "It would really make more sense for us to move to Dublin, because that's where the business is, but we're staying in Kenmare, as this is definitely the best place to bring up our kids," says Sandra.
The couple now have four other children: 10-year-old Michael, six-year-old Jordan, three-year-old Melanie and 14-month-old Enya. They also have a sleek new 360sq metre (3,850 sq ft), five-bedroom house in Templenoe, just outside Kenmare, that has fine views of Kenmare Bay. "Kenmare is just so relaxing," she adds. "We have stress in our business, but, somehow being in Kenmare, it's so much easier to handle."
After a year, though, the couple went back to Belgium, married and had their first child, Sarah, who was the tragic victim, aged three months, of a cot death. Their son, Seán, who is now 14, was also born in Belgium. The pull of Kenmare and "its unique balance of work and play" were never far away, however. The couple returned to the town in 1992, after Bruno secured his previous job in the kitchen at the Park. He graduated to head chef a couple of years later, and in 1995, aged 27, he won the hotel's restaurant a coveted Michelin star. In 1998, spotting a gap at the top end of the tour-bus and chauffeured-car business, they set up Pro Bus & Car from an office in Kenmare (064-42500; www.probusand car.com).
Business has thrived. Bruno and Sandra now have 26 coaches and cars, employ up to 84 people in the summer and turn over more than €1.5 million a year. As well as arranging luxury tours and transport around Co Kerry, Co Cork and the southwest generally, they also have exclusive contracts in Dublin with the Four Seasons Hotel and the Department of Foreign Affairs. "It would really make more sense for us to move to Dublin, because that's where the business is, but we're staying in Kenmare, as this is definitely the best place to bring up our kids," says Sandra.
The couple now have four other children: 10-year-old Michael, six-year-old Jordan, three-year-old Melanie and 14-month-old Enya. They also have a sleek new 360sq metre (3,850 sq ft), five-bedroom house in Templenoe, just outside Kenmare, that has fine views of Kenmare Bay. "Kenmare is just so relaxing," she adds. "We have stress in our business, but, somehow being in Kenmare, it's so much easier to handle."