Padraig has the tourism business running deep in his veins and is extremely active and passionate about the development of the tourism industry in Kerry.

Raised in the family business, he worked his way up through 9 different hotels, trained in GMIT, Switzerland & Australia & has more than 25 years’ experience in various management roles.

Padraig returned to take over the family business in 2002 & immediately started an aggressive expansion plan. Adding a Spa, Casual & formal dining facilities, Events Room, Fitness suite, on site chapel, bedrooms & most recently a 100-acre farm that led to the merging of the Estate with the hotel.

With the obvious recycling practices & omission of plastics where possible opportunities were abundant for developing a truly sustainable Hotel offering. Estate work began through Lockdown on forming an integrated constructed wetland, 5km of walkways, planting 29,000 trees, adding an apiary, rewilding the estate & working towards a carbon neutral hotel.

Coupled with this is a complete rebrand & image transition from The Country house to Ballygarry Estate signifying the largescale expansion of outdoor amenities, walkways & woodlands to align with the strategic direction of sustainability & biodiversity for the Estate.

Padraig is an outdoor enthusiast at heart and is an avid trekker and has climbed to 20,000ft in the Himalayas & has summited the highest peaks of the European & African continents.  He is an aviation & Classic car enthusiast.

Today he is extremely proud to be running a hotel that has been an integral part of the Kerry community for over sixty years, during which three generations of the family have constantly driven the hotel to be one of the premier four-star hotels in Ireland, having being included in the Top Ten Hotels in Ireland on TripAdvisor for past 8 years.