'You look at things differently': John Brennan on cancer diagnosis and selling Kenmare hotels

Brothers John and Francis Brennan at the Park Hotel Kenmare. Picture: Domnick Walsh

When I catch John Brennan on this sunny Wednesday morning, my first question is the basic one. How are you?

"If I was any happier, I'd crack."

After 43 years in business, John and his older brother Francis have announced they are placing Park Hotel Kenmare, and its sister property, The Lansdowne Kenmare, on the market.

It came as a shock to many of their industry peers, not least the more than 100 staff members employed by Ireland's most famous hoteliers, but for Brennan, who was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2011, the wheels have been in motion for a long time. 

"A girl who works for us who had breast cancer a couple of years ago rang me last night and said, 'I fully understand'," John says. 

John Brennan: Time is the most valuable thing you can have

"When you have the disease that I have, it's a fantastic thing to have because it makes you realise that today is precious. Even coming in this morning, knowing what was ahead of me, the sun is splitting the rocks and I am thinking, 'I should be gone down the bay in the boat.' You just look at things differently."

The 58-year-old, who is living with an incurable but treatable form of cancer, says he has realised, "time is the most valuable thing you can have". 

"People think, 'I'll do that when I retire'. You might not get to retirement."

The At Your Service personality says the covid-19 pandemic also impacted his decision to walk away from the properties. 

"Our businesses were forced to close, and thankfully, due to an extremely generous government system, all our staff were well looked after. 

"I didn't have any worries," he said. 

"It was the first time in my life that I was able to go to bed and sleep, not worrying about whether the night porter would come in... not working 12-hour days.

"I had umpteen calls from hoteliers today saying, 'God, I'd love to be in that position myself'. It is an extremely — and I'm not just saying this because it sounds like the right thing to say — we are in an extremely privileged position to be able to do what we're doing. I know loads of colleagues who can't make this decision because they are up the walls financially and their properties aren't in good enough condition to sell. 

"They are on a merry-go-round, and in our business, it just keeps going round and round... hopefully, with the sale of the hotels, we'll be able to get off the merry-go-round and go on to something else and see what the future holds."

John Brennan says the covid-19 pandemic also impacted his decision to walk away from the properties. Picture: Domnick Walsh

The toughest part 

For Brennan, the only hesitation in walking away is leaving behind the "Kenmare family".

"The toughest part of today is the staff. We have people here who've come from all over the world to work with us. We have four staff here over 40 years, 20 staff over 20 years with us. Many of those people have said to us this morning, they wouldn't be in Kenmare if it wasn't for us. And when you get told that... I'd be quite cold-blooded insofar as, if it's the right decision to make regardless of consequences that's what we're going to do, but, in this particular case..," he trails off.

"Kasia, the manager in the Lansdowne said to me this morning, 'why don't you buy a hotel in Spain and we'll all go and work there'," he says laughing, "it's not a bad idea". 

Spain hotel plans aside, Brennan says while he plans on having more time to himself once a sale goes through, he has plenty to keep himself busy.

"I wouldn't underestimate the importance of Dromquinna in all of this for us, business-wise. It's a fantastic property. It gives us everything we need. It's a more seasonal business than the Park Hotel which means we have more time to ourselves, and it is the property that is of interest to our children in the future. 

"I have more than enough to keep myself occupied. And Francis has 101 things on his plate."

John and Francis Brennan are currently filming season 13 of their hit show, 'At Your Service'.

At your service 

There is also no fear of the brothers disappearing from our TV screens any time soon. The pair are currently filming season 13 of the hit show  At Your Service. 

"It's a full-time job," he says, "but it's lovely." 

"We are in people's sitting rooms every night, for 20 nights a year or whatever the case may be... everyone thinks they know you. 

"I was in Spain last week and I was walking down the promenade when I heard this lady say "Hi, John, how are you?" I stopped thinking it was my first cousin.. but sure I never met this woman before. 

"The way she said hello to me, I thought I must know her... 20 minutes into the conversation she says she knows me off the telly," he laughs. 

Asked about memorable guests down through the years, John says he knows what kind of response I am looking for — just this morning, Francis name-dropped John Travolta and Maeve Binchy ("we used to reconfigure the bedroom for her writing desk") on Pat Kenny's radio show — but he says those aren't the ones that come to mind.

"When I say to you, Mr Knipper, it means nothing to you. But Mr Knipper means everything to us in the Park Hotel. 

"His son, Jim, is probably 60 years of age or thereabouts now, but he came here as a young fella in 1980 when his mother and father had a crash at the front gate of the Park Hotel, and they came into the hotel. 

"The Knippers have come to Kenmare for two weeks in May and two weeks in October ever since. They are huge supporters of the Black Valley National School and a whole host of things locally. 

"When we were building our spa, I went to New Jersey to meet Mr Knipper to run the idea by him and see what he thought, because he was the typical client of the Park Hotel. 

"When he passed away, we went over to the funeral and all of that... now his son is a very good customer of the hotel, one of the people we contacted last night. When you ask that question, that's who we think of. 

"You're thinking it's the Rolling Stones who stayed and had a party in room 314 until the early hours of the morning... but it's the people like the Knippers who we think of."

As we wrap up our call, I ask John if I can double-check spelling for the people he's mentioned.

"I am J-O-H-N, not J-H-O-N," he says jokingly, referring to his biography My Name is Jhon, released by Gill in 2021. The title was a nod to his battle with dyslexia — something he has previously written about for the  Irish Examiner. 

"I've done an awful lot in life, much more than I would ever have expected when I was 7 or 8 years old," he says.

"It's all a matter of mindset."