Francis Brennan: My proudest achievement in life has been buying Park Hotel Kenmare at 24

I used to ring my mother every night — over 3,000 people went to her funeral. Sligo never saw the likes. 

Francis Brennan: I would like to be remembered as a very fair person

I am one of five, three brothers (Francis, John and Damien) and two sisters (Susan and Kate). My father was a grocer in Stepaside, and we lived on Balally Drive, just off Sandyford Road. There were 37 houses on the road and everybody knew everybody. Every mother looked after every child. We were very lucky; it was a very happy childhood.

I think my earliest memory is making my confirmation. I can't quite recall it, but I think I remember being in Westland Row church. I don't remember the Bishop calling me out to say the Hail Mary or anything like that... I have a hopeless memory. People say 'oh, remember you were at my wedding?’ I wouldn't even remember you're married, never mind being at your wedding!

I went to a school run by the Christian Brothers school originally, and they murdered me. Then I moved to the Marist Fathers Catholic University School (CUS) in Leeson St. My mother used to say she loved when I came home from school because I’d come home with all the news. I'd have to get the bus into town, and it was a good long journey to CUS, but in those days, you knew everybody on the bus and you'd talk to them all. So I'd come home with all the news. Mary's sister had a baby and Joan is going on holidays to Menorca and her sister broke her leg and spent the night in the Mater... when I graduated and went to Sligo working, mum said she was desperate for news. John would tell you nothing. Mam used to say he could go out the door and he'd call you that evening from Manchester, he’d never have said he was going, why he was there, and how he got there!

Francis Brennan: I have the ability to make people happy, which is God given. Not everybody has that.

Growing up we never stayed in hotels, never. But when I was 17, I was invited to a wedding in Paris with my sister Kate. We stayed in a little hotel in Paris, a small room with twin beds, I remember it well. It was the first time I ever saw a McDonald's. I was so taken with it — I thought it was the best thing since the sliced pan. I kept the chips packet, because I thought it was so clever. 

Two or three years later, we received a package from my mum’s aunt Helen, wrapped in the New York Times. Long behold, wasn’t there an ad from McDonald’s looking for staff in Chicago? I wrote to them, explaining that I’d seen the franchise in Paris and wondering was it available for Ireland. They wrote back to me saying it had already been taken by a man called Michael Mehigan. I always thought it was very farsighted to know the value of McDonald’s!

My proudest achievement in life has been buying the Park Hotel in Kenmare. I bought it when I was 24. It would be unheard of today. I think I'm very lucky in the hotel business. I absolutely one hundred percent love my job. I do it seven days a week, 365 days a year. I am delighted to go to work every day.

I could change something from my past... during the recession of 2008/2009 I created a lot of tax benefits and invested in a lot of things, all of which I lost. So if I were to go back, of course I wouldn't invest the way I did because I lost absolutely everything which was all for my pension. So now, instead of getting a taxi from the airport I have to go on the bus. But, it doesn't worry me. And do I look back? No. 

I would like to be remembered as a very fair person. I've only fired one person in my life. And he still calls in to the hotel to say hello. He agrees I was right in firing him!

The Homekeeper's Diary 2023 by Francis Brennan

I think my greatest quality is empathy. I always look out for the person that might need me, need help. I look after all my staff. During the pandemic, I rang those that have mortgages to make sure that they were alright... I always think of people and think of how lucky I am and how I could help. I think [people can be] very selfish nowadays. It’s all about money and mé féin. It’s horrible.

My mother, Maura Brennan, was always the person I turned to most in life. I used to ring her every night. She passed away two years ago. She was 97, and as healthy as I am. She died in January 2020, just before COVID. She was very funny, she used to say 'sure everyone I knew is dead.’ Over 3,000 people went to her funeral. Sligo never saw the likes.

I am very lucky, I am always in good form. And I have the ability to make people happy, which is God given. Not everybody has that. I have no worries, and I one hundred percent believe there is an afterlife. If I was to be shot in a minute, I’d say that’s alright, that’s grand. I've had a great life, I’ve wanted for nothing, I’d do it all again.

Francis Brennan’s latest book, The Homekeeper’s Diary 2023, is out now.