Kenmare House B&B
+2 photosAbout Kenmare House B&B
Kenmare House B&B is a Fáilte Ireland approved 4-star b&b in Kenmare, on the Kerry coast, listed on Fáilte Ireland’s official register of quality-assured accommodation. It is a smaller, owner-run house of 6 rooms, the kind of place where you deal with the people who actually run it.
Simple rooms with private bathrooms in an unpretentious home offering cooked breakfast and a lounge.
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Claim this listingStaying in Kenmare
An 18th-century planned town at the meeting point of the Ring of Kerry and the Ring of Beara, with a food reputation far bigger than its size.
Kenmare sits at the head of Kenmare Bay, right where the Iveragh and Beara peninsulas meet, which makes it the only town in Ireland where both the Ring of Kerry and the Ring of Beara begin at your front door. Its Irish name, Neidín, means the little nest, and it fits: a snug triangle of three streets around a market square, laid out to a formal plan in 1775 and now a designated Heritage Town.
For a B&B in Kenmare, the draw is the pairing of that touring position with an unusually good small-town food scene. Restaurants here carry Michelin Guide listings and regular gourmet coverage in the national press, so a day on the peninsulas can end with a dinner that would hold its own in a city, all within a couple of minutes’ walk of most guesthouse doors.
The town also has the finest approach road in the country. The N71 to Killarney climbs over Moll’s Gap and past Ladies View before dropping through Killarney National Park, which means the lakes, Muckross and the park’s walks all sit on your doorstep in one direction while the quieter Beara Peninsula waits in the other.
Things to do near Kenmare House B&B
The Kenmare Stone Circle
A Bronze Age ring of fifteen boulders a short stroll from the Square, one of the largest stone circles in the southwest of Ireland, with a boulder dolmen capped by a huge slab at its centre. Very few Irish towns have a prehistoric monument this significant within walking distance of breakfast.
A genuine food town
Kenmare’s restaurants have earned attention well beyond Kerry, with Michelin Guide listings and gourmet-getaway coverage in the national press, alongside historic hotels that have carried the reputation for decades. Booking a table ahead is worth doing in summer.
Kenmare lace
The Poor Clare nuns introduced lace-making here after their arrival in 1861, as employment for local girls in the years after the Famine, and Kenmare lace went on to international renown with royal commissions among its honours. The Lace and Design Centre above the Heritage Centre tells the story and displays antique convent pieces.
Moll’s Gap and Ladies View
Ten minutes up the N71 toward Killarney, the road crosses the rocky pass at Moll’s Gap and runs on to Ladies View, the celebrated panorama over Killarney’s Upper Lake. Driving it in the evening, against the day-tour traffic, is one of the simplest pleasures of a Kenmare base.
Gleninchaquin Park
A family-run valley park and working farm on the Beara side of the bay, about twenty kilometres from town, centred on a 140-metre waterfall that pours down the headwall of the glen. Waymarked walks run from forty minutes to a full day, and the final few kilometres of narrow lane keep the crowds honest.
The Uragh Stone Circle
A small Bronze Age circle of five low stones and a three-metre standing stone on a ridge above Lough Inchiquin near Tuosist, close to Gleninchaquin. The setting, between two loughs with the mountains behind, makes it one of the most striking prehistoric sites in the country.
Kayaking on Kenmare Bay
Star Outdoors, a few minutes from town on the Beara road, runs kayak hire and guided paddling tours on the sheltered upper bay, where seals and seabirds are a common sight from the water. It is the easiest way to see the town’s setting the way it is best seen, from the sea.
Molly Gallivan’s
A 200-year-old cottage and traditional farm on the N71 toward Glengarriff, showing rural life as it was lived before electricity, with famine-era ruins and a Neolithic stone row on the farm walk and tearooms to finish. It pairs neatly with the drive south into West Cork.
Getting to Kenmare
Kenmare is about 32 kilometres from Killarney over the mountain road at Moll’s Gap, a spectacular half-hour drive, and Kerry Airport at Farranfore is roughly 45 minutes away. Bus Éireann’s route between Killarney and Skibbereen stops in the town daily, connecting to trains at Killarney, and Cork city and its airport are around an hour and three quarters by road.
Booking Kenmare House B&B direct, and what the rating means
A real, assessed b&b
Kenmare House B&B holds a 4-star b&b rating under Fáilte Ireland's National Quality Assurance Framework, assessed against the bedrooms, bathrooms, breakfast and welcome rather than self-declared. It's an independent signal you can trust before you book, separate from any platform's own review score.
No fees, no middleman
Ring the owner, or use the contact details on this page, and arrange the stay with the house rather than through an app. No booking fee added to your bill and no commission taken from the owner, so the room rate you agree is the room rate you pay.
A better stay, direct
Owners answer the questions a booking platform never will: whether the room at the front is quieter, how early breakfast can be served, or where to park for a few days. Speaking to the house directly is how B&Bs in Ireland were booked for decades.
Still deciding where to base yourself? Browse more B&Bs in Kerry.
Check availability at Kenmare House B&B
Send the owner the details of your stay and they will come back to you directly. No booking fee, no platform in between, just Kenmare on the other end.
Kenmare House B&B, common questions
Where is Kenmare House B&B?
Kenmare House B&B is at Gortamullen, Kenmare, Co. Kerry (Eircode V93 HO22). Give the Eircode to your sat-nav to find the door.
How do I book Kenmare House B&B?
You contact the owner directly, by phone or the enquiry form on this page. DirectBnB adds no booking fee and takes no commission, so you arrange the stay with the house itself and pay the room rate with nothing on top.
What star rating does Kenmare House B&B have?
Kenmare House B&B is a Fáilte Ireland approved 4-star b&b under Fáilte Ireland's National Quality Assurance Framework, and guests rate it 4.7 out of 5 across 55 Google reviews.
Is Kenmare House B&B suitable for families?
Yes, Kenmare House B&B is listed as family friendly. Ask the owner directly about room configurations and cots when you book.
How many rooms does Kenmare House B&B have?
Kenmare House B&B has 6 rooms. As a smaller, owner-run house it is worth booking ahead, particularly in summer and over weekends.
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