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History - The Club House Hotel Kilkenny

One of the longest surviving hotels in the country, the Club House Hotel Kilkenny was established in 1797 and was bought by Jim Brennan (its present owner) over 30 years ago. Known throughout its history as the Foxhounds Club, The Hibernian and Club House Hotel, the hostelry has passed through five families. Originally the home of the Prim family, the house became the headquarters of the Kilkenny Hunt Club in 1797 with rooms for dining, dancing and accommodation. It was developed into a commercial hotel in 1817 by James Rice, steward of the Hunt Club, and his partner John Walsh. When Rice died, Walsh sold the hotel to Simon and John Morris who changed the name of the hotel to the Club House Hotel.

Simon Morris used to often tell of the great performance of a Mr. Jack Courtney of Ballyedmond, Co. Cork who, on the back of his horse ( to decide a wager), rode his steed from the Club House stables up the hotel stairs into the club room,  jumped a fire screen and rode back down to the stables.

The Kilkenny hotel later passed to Thomas Murphy in 1888 and, when he died in 1922, was taken on by his daughters. A twenty bedroom extension was added in 1968 and ten years later the Brennan family acquired the Club House Hotel, carrying out a major refurbishment in 1988, extending the bar in 1993, adding a further ten bedrooms in 1995 and restoring the collection of spy cartoons which adorn the walls. 

Today the Club House Hotel in Kilkenny Ireland has 28 bedrooms and caters for corporate clients and holiday makers and has an abundance of local customers who frequent the hotel on a regular basis for fine food and friendly service in a welcoming "home from home"atmosphere.