The O’Callaghan family celebrated twenty years in business at the Listowel Arms Hotel on Sunday as part of the 2016 Listowel Food Fair festivities.The O’Callaghan family welcomed the community of Listowel to join them for a celebratory afternoon reception with gourmet canapés and Jazz music. Speaking about the family history with the Listowel Arms Hotel Asya O’Callaghan said: “I am honored to have joined the O’Callaghan family of talented and hard working people.The O’ Callaghans are the seventh family in the history of the Listowel Arms Hotel which has always been run by families and played an important role in the Listowel community for over two hundred years now.The Listowel Arms Hotel is often described in reviews as very homely and welcoming and we are so proud to have a fantastic team of staff who are always complimented. Some of them such as Eileen Lynch and Mary Julian have joined the team over thirty years ago in The Cliff House Hotel in Ballybunion founded by Bernard and Josie O’Callaghan. Bridie O’ Carrol and Tom Johnes have been with the O’ Callaghans for all of the twenty years.Coming from a big city of Moscow where people hardly know each other’s neighbors’, I truly appreciate the close and friendly community of Listowel. We had a wonderful day celebrating the milestone with family and friends and thank you to all for sharing it with us. ”
Great history has occurred at the Listowel Arms Hotel as demonstrated by a plaque on the wall hinting at the eventful history of the famous hotel. Previous famous visitors to the hotel include the Liberator, Daniel O’Connell and Charles Stewart Parnell . The Victorian writer W. M. Thackeray recommended the place in 1842 and Richard Colt-Hoare, in 1865 shared his fondness of the historic Listowel Arms Hotel describing the hotel as ‘one of the best in Ireland’. Over a hundred years later and the O’Callaghan family are now celebrating twenty years in Irish hospitality in the North Kerry town long famed for its literary geniuses and culinary delights.Set in the square of Listowel, the Listowel Arms Hotel is a three star boutique hotel with a proud tradition of fine food and quality service. The Listowel Arms, being the only hotel in Listowel, is very much “the hotel” in this buzzing Kerry town. The hotel is located right in the centre of this heritage town, which also known as the “Literary Capital of Ireland” and it certainly plays a great role in the community life in this part of North Kerry. Listowel is home to many annual festivals: Writers’ Week in June, the Listowel Races in September and the Listowel Food Fair in November. Listowel came alive this past week for the 2016 Listowel Food Fair -Ireland’s longest running food festival which celebrated it’s 22nd consecutive fair this year from November 10th -14th.
