8 CLONDALKIN GAZETTE 26 January 2012
PEOPLE Clondalkin man on his busy role at ‘the royals’ hotel’
Never boring at The Goring for Kinsella Q PAUL HOSFORD
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clondalkin@gazettegroup.com
‘I’ve been here 17 years, and I have a very good team around me. ‘We get a lot of famous people coming in, a lot of them because of the royal wedding. ‘We have a massive amount of regulars, with the Irish Embassy around the corner as well.’
IT’S a long way from Clondalkin to one of the world’s most famous and prestigious hotels but, for Brian Kinsella, a native of Clondalkin, it is a path that has seen him rub shoulders with royals, sports stars and celebrities. As bar manager in the five-star Goring Hotel, aka the hotel where the Duchess of Cambridge spent the night before her wedding to Prince William, Kinsella is used to mixing with the great and the good. But how did the road from Clondalkin lead to London’s SW1 district? Talking to The Gazette
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Brian Kinsella, bar manager, The Goring Hotel
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from London, Kinsella says: “I moved to London in 1988, and I started working in the hotel industry here. “I worked in T he Dorchester and The Kings Court Hotel, before joining the Goring family 17 years ago.
“It’s a fourth-generation of the family that are running the hotel, which is nice,” he says. Because of the nature of the job, Kinsella is obviously unable to divulge any details of the stay of the Middleton family, but the connection with
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the royal family does not end there for the Goring Hotel. Opened in 1910, the hotel is just around the corner from Buckingham Palace, and the term “palatial” doesn’t do the early days of the hotel justice. It was the first hotel in the world with en-suite bathrooms and central heating in every room. “In fact,” says Kinsella, “many guests at Queen Elizabeth’s coronation chose to stay in the Goring Hotel, as there was a bathroom in every room, whereas in Buckingham Palace, they would have to share bathrooms. “The affiliation [between the hotel and the royal family] started around that period and, since then, the royal family have frequented the hotel, and then you know what happened in May.”
Experience While not being able to talk specifics about the royal wedding, the Clondalkin native says that even being around the event was an experience not to be forgotten. “It was a wonderful occasion for all involved. The whole thing created such a buzz around London, especially because of where we are. It was a great mood around, it was a great thing to be involved in. “It was probably the best three working days I’ve ever done,” says Kinsella. In 2010, the hotel won the Cathey Award for Best Independent Hotel, and was named Virtuoso Travel Group’s Hotel of the Year. Awards such as these
Clondalkin native, Brian Kinsella, talks to The Gazette about his bar manager at the prestigious Goring Hotel, close to Buckingham Palace, and where the Duchess of Cambridge spent the night before her wedding to Prince William
are felt at ground level, with Kinsella saying that being involved in the evolution of the company makes it feel more special. “I’ve been here 17 years; my assistant managers have been here seven and six years, and I have a very good team around me. “The hotel was a fourstar when I got here, and is a five-star hotel, now,” he says. “We get a lot of famous people coming in, a lot of them because of the royal
wedding. “We have a massive amount of regulars, with the Irish Embassy around the corner as well.” As an Irishman living in the shadow of Buckingham Palace, seeing the Queen in his backyard, Kinsella says that the visit only improved his already excellent relationship with England. “[Queen Elizabeth’s visit to Ireland] should have been done years ago. On a personal basis, I think the relationship
[between Ireland and Britain] is pretty strong. “There is a mutual respect between the countries, and there’s very few negatives I hear from British people about Ireland. “We get a huge amount of Irish coming to this hotel and I was surprised by the interest [at home] in the royal wedding. “But, when they find out that the bar manager is from Clondalkin, they’re a bit surprised!” says Kinsella.