My first encounter with Sheila Casey was a number of years ago when I blew into Killarney in my late teens to be trained in hospitality during the off season at what was the Torc Great Southern Hotel, now the new cinema on Park Road.

Sheila, the eldest of six girls from Ballyhar, held the reigns training 20 or more students in Front Office Management each year. As a CERT training centre it was the norm to delve into all departments to give a true experience of how each department liaised to give great guest satisfaction.

Pauline Lyne of Park View Guesthouse was the CERT coordinator in my time, responsible for checking in 150 students by 10pm of a Sunday and checking out for 2.30pm each Friday.

“At least 150 students from all over Ireland passed through this great facility each year which is a facility I think is hugely lacking in the tourism industry today,” Sheila said.

We both wondered how many students during her term, 1991-2022, are still working in hotels.

Well I knew one! Sheila Casey has worked for her entire life within the hotel industry in Killarney but is probably best known for so many other positions and huge contributions she has made to the community over the years.

“As hotels go, I have always been in the Front Office department - the Great Southern Hotel, The Europe, Torc Great Southern, Gleneagle Hotel Group and I am presently at the Innisfallen Hotel. Killarney is a wonderful place to live and work. There is a huge sense of togetherness and community that is the envy amongst other towns in the country and I think this was proven lately with the arrival of the Ukrainian people,” Sheila said.

Sheila has invested all of her free time to Killarney, not just in a working capacity. In 1999 she was elected onto the Town Council and became the first female Mayor of Killarney in 2003 and was elected again in 2006. She is actively part of SKAL, the international organisation for travel and tourism for professionals around the world and gave one term as president of the organisation. She's also actively involved with Killarney Soroptimists where she spent a year as President amongst business women who host the hugely successful Pancake Tuesday coffee morning, donating the proceeds to local charities annually.

I asked Sheila about KASI.

“Killarney Asylum Seekers and Immigrants (KASI) has been in operation since 2003 and if you saw the small office Marilyn Counihan and I worked out of in New Street to where we are today, with a beautiful garden in Ballycasheen and Go Green Cafe & Refill Store on Beech Road, it is hugely rewarding,” Sheila smiled.

I thought to myself how the Ukrainian people living at the Innisfallen Hotel had struck gold with Sheila working in Front Office but also the Chairperson of the local inter agency group which liaises with the HSE, ETB, INTREO, Kerry County Council etc.

“Sheila, dare I ask, what do you like to do in your spare time?”

Sheila laughed.

“I quite enjoy walking and the new walk way by the Flesk River to Ross Road is especially nice. I am quite partial to Killarney House. What a gem we have right in the town centre. I love gardening also and my favourite flower is the peony rose.

“Outside of your beloved Killarney Sheila, what are your favourite spots? I concluded. “I loved working with the Town Twinning Committee. Killarney is twinning with such lovely countries and cities, Pleinfeld in Germany is my favourite that we are twinned with. I also love the South of France and enjoyed travelling to Toucan with my sister Joan and her family on occasion. In Ireland, I really love to visit my friends in Bundoran, Co. Donegal which boasts a similar landscape to Kerry.

“That’s a long drive to Bundoran Sheila,” I said.

“It is Marie but really it’s just a phone call or two and I’m there,” Sheila replied.

I wasn’t a bit surprised to hear that and we laughed at the notion that you can take the girl out of Killarney but never Killarney out of the girl.

Thank you Sheila Casey. The pleasure was all mine.