1966 – The Brandon Hotel, Tralee, Co. Kerry

Originally known as the Mount Brandon Hotel, the hotel’s roots lie in a showband ballroom. In partnership with two brothers, Tom and Michael Clifford, property developer John J. Byrne built on a site in Tralee, first in 1965 a 1,500-capacity ballroom, which being the only sizeable music venue in the region became a magnet for showbands; and then in 1966 the 100-bedroom Mount Brandon Hotel. He handled the construction and financing while the Cliffords ran the hotel. A further seventy bedrooms were added in 1970 with facilities being modernised at regular intervals thereafter. The original interiors were by Stephenson Gibney & Associates.