‘I like the challenge. I’m not the Brennans. I’m an unknown entity’ – meet the new owner of the Park Hotel Kenmare

How do you follow an act like the Brennan brothers? Bryan Meehan talks art, family, and his dream to create a new type of Irish five-star

'I like the challenge' - the new owner of John and Francis Brennan's Park Hotel Kenmare

Pol Ó Conghaile

“I would wake up in the middle of the night going, ‘Jeez, am I making a big mistake? What if the staff hate it? What if the customers come in and go…’”

Bryan Meehan inhales in mock horror. The new owner of Park Hotel Kenmare, the five-star made famous by John and Francis Brennan, is walking me through changes made since he bought it last November. They’ve been swift and deep. The hotel has re-opened to non-residents. Hallways have been decluttered, antiques removed and a suit of armour banished to a stairwell. There are plans for new rooms and a spa overhaul. But most dramatically, there’s the art.