Maurice O'Donoghue who died on June 9th aged 62, was a prominent Killarney hotelier who pioneered many initiatives to develop the town as the leading tourism centre in the south-west.
He worked hard to attract visitors on a year-round basis by providing attractions other than the famed scenery. He also played a prominent role in local politics and was a Fianna Fβil member of Killarney Urban District Council for over 30 years.
He was a director of Bord Fβilte as well as Killarney Race Company and Radio Kerry.
Maurice O'Donoghue was born in Killarney on July 27th, 1938. His father, the late Paddy O'Donoghue, was a pharmacist who had earlier fought in the War of Independence and taken the Republican side in the Civil War. His mother, Sheila, (nΘe Foley) is still involved in the Gleneagle family-run hotel.
Maurice O'Donoghue was educated at the Presentation Monastery School and St Brendan's College, Killarney, and at Blackrock College, Dublin. He qualified as a pharmacist in 1963 but never practised. He once remarked that he was "a pharmacist by duty" since as the eldest son of a family of seven he had responsibilities should his father pass away. In 1964, he married Margaret O'Sullivan.
In 1959, and while still a student, he begun running dances and helping to develop the large house and land on the Muckross Road that his father had bought and turned into the Gleneagle Hotel. He introduced showbands and cabaret acts and organised a special bus service to bring patrons from Killarney town centre to the hotel and back. He also founded the Gleneagle Brass and Reed Band and a school of music at the hotel.
As a leading hotelier - he also owned Scott's Hotel in the town centre - Maurice O'Donoghue was noted for innovative schemes to attract increasing numbers of visitors to Killarney, especially Irish ones.
In 1980, he initiated the Showtime Express weekend package offering train travel and accommodation in the off season. In 1986 he ran into controversy when he introduced the "waterbus" on the Lower Lake to compete with the traditional rowing boats. But he overcame the objections from conservationists and others later followed his example.
He also sponsored an annual car rally in Kerry and provided facilities for the National Transport Museum in Killarney. His most ambitious project, a national events centre with seating for 2,000, was opened at the Gleneagle last year. It cost about £6 million and serves as a convention centre as well as a sports arena.
He was first elected as a Fianna Fβil councillor to the urban district council in 1967 and served several times as chairman. He was still a member at the time of his death.
In the 1985 local elections, he stood as an Independent but returned to Fianna Fβil at the next elections. He was noted for his readiness to take an independent stance and express strongly held views. At one time he was attracted to national politics and considered standing as a Dβil candidate for Kevin Boland's Aontacht ╔ireann party in the 1973 general election but did not go forward. He was Fianna Fβil Director of Elections in Kerry South in the 1981 general election and canvassed for John O'Donoghue , the present Minister for Justice, when he first won a seat in 1987.
He was deeply interested in sport and played golf in Killarney where he was a former captain. He actively supported the GAA in Co Kerry including sponsorship at times for the county football team. He also sponsored a local basketball team.
He is survived by his wife, Margaret; sons, Patrick, Maurice Eoin, John and Eamonn; daughters, ┴ine, Shella and Aoife; mother, Sheila; brother, Padraig; sisters, Br∅d, Eileen, Maura, Aideen and Ann-Marie.
Maurice O'Donoghue: born 1938; died, June 2001