News
Stunning “Hollywood” style home makes RTÉ final

By Michelle Crean
A couple who brought “Hollywood Hills to Kerry” were thrilled when their stunning new home made the final of an RTÉ show on Tuesday night.
The house, which has a traditional exterior but a very modern and contemporary feel inside with a large open plan throughout includes an “American vibe with the carport and big garage”, a cinema room, a basketball area outside, and a gym in the garage, impressed the judges on Home of the Year.
Judges, architect Hugh Wallace, award winning architect Amanda Bone, and new judge, award winning interior designer Sara Cosgrove, who seek out creativity and clever design, loved it so much that they marked it 26 out of 30 beating two other competing homes in the first episode of the new series.
Hugh said there was an “American vibe with the carport and big garage”. And given that the owners Tony McManus, his wife Imogen and their son Kai, moved from LA back to Kerry, he was spot on.
Tony, originally from Ballyduff, emigrated to LA 20 years ago but “home was always where the heart is” and during a six month stay in Kerry to spend quality time with relatives, they decided to pack up their beach life to settle in Killarney.
And Tony is no stranger to town. His grandparents Dan and Josephine Foley, and mom Marie came from High Street and he himself was a boarder for five years in The Sem finishing school in the early ‘90s.
“We’re back to where we wanted to be,” Tony told the Killarney Advertiser this week. “We moved in January 2019 for six months for my son to spend time with his grandparents. Then my son and wife came to me and said they didn’t want to go back. We were looking for a while to buy a house and my wife wanted to be near Killarney National Park.”
The couple purchased a site on Ross Road and hired the services of Denis O’Sullivan of Crossmount Construction who managed to bring their vision to life. The build began in November 2020 and was completed in December 2021 with a three month shut down due to the pandemic restrictions.
“He was fantastic to work with,” Tony said.
“It turned out better than we hoped. We had nothing but the best of experiences with contractors and talented tradespeople. Without them we wouldn’t have our beautiful home. We love it, we’re so fortunate.”
The new series of Home of the Year airs on RTÉ One at 8.30pm on Tuesday nights for the next seven weeks, and will be available on-demand on RTÉ Player each week after broadcast.

News
Massive Park Road housing development given green light
A private developer has been given planning permission to build 249 new residential units at Upper Park Road. The development, which will be built on a recently cleared site near […]

A private developer has been given planning permission to build 249 new residential units at Upper Park Road.
The development, which will be built on a recently cleared site near An Post’s sorting office, will include a variety of properties from five-bed houses to single apartments, along with a crèche and over 500 car spaces and over 300 bike spaces.
The development has been welcomed by local councillor Martin Grady.
“Killarney has a massive housing shortage so this is very positive. It will retain young families in the area, stimulating economic growth,” he said. “After 17 years of different planning applications it’s finally coming to fruition.”
News
Ballydribeen residents living in fear due to anti-social behaviour
Residents in the Ballydribeen are living in fear as a result of increased anti-social behaviour in the estate. Several serious incidents in the estate have resulted in several Garda visits […]

Residents in the Ballydribeen are living in fear as a result of increased anti-social behaviour in the estate.
Several serious incidents in the estate have resulted in several Garda visits in the last week.
Local councillor Martin Grady told the Killarney Advertiser that residents are “living in fear” as a result of very serious incidents in the last week alone.
One house in the estate was badly damaged when fire crackers were placed inside a letter box.
Another house had its windows smashed in over the weekend.
“It’s a major problem,” added Grady after meeting residents there earlier this week.
One of the most serious incidents occurred on Tuesday night.
A passing motorists had rocks thrown at his car while driving along the bypass whch is adjacent to the estate.
Taking to social media, local primary-school teacher Pádraig O’Sullivan posted:
“Travelling home tonight, at 11.05pm on the Killarney side of the bypass our car was hit by a rock – not a pebble – from the Ballydribben side , which hit the passenger door.
“It was centimetres away from hitting the window where my father, who is visually impaired, was sitting.
“This could have caused catastrophic permanent injury to him.
“The Killarney Garda were on the scene within three minutes.
“They can’t be patrolling the bypass all night.
“It comes down to parenting. You should know where your children are at this hour and be able to teach them what’s funny and what ruin a person’s life or cause a fatal crash.“
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