News
Loyal and diligent Joe voted Employee of the Year

Diligence, a hardworking attitude, reliability and honesty over a 47-year career culminated in Joe Moriarty receiving a major accolade this week.

FINALIST: John Thompson Hannigan's Bar and Restaurant at the International Hotel and selected as a finalist for the Irish Hotel's Federation Kerry Branch Employee of the Year Awards 2022 pictured with his colleagues Barbara Starzak Ann Mangan Dara McCarthy John Thompson Mark Kerrins and General Manager Catriona White. Photo: Marie Carroll-O'Sullivan

FINALIST: Noreen McGillicuddy (Senior Front of House at Aghadoe Heights Hotel & Spa) finalist at the Irish Hotel's Federation Employee of the Year Awards at the Ballygarry Hotel on Wednesday. Pictured l-r were: Patsy O'Brien Celeste Geary Linda Kennedy Noreen McGillicuddy General Manager Ewan Plenderleith Siobhan O'Shea and Maura Moriarty. Photo: Marie Carroll-O'Sullivan

FINALIST: Darren Looney Duty Manager at the Cahernane Hotel and finalist at the IHF Kerry Branch Employee of the Year Awards pictured with Emer Corridon (General Manager) and David O'Brien (Deputy General Manager) before setting off to the Ballygarry House Hotel for the awards ceremony. Photo: Marie Carroll-O'Sullivan

FINALIST: John Thompson Hannigan's Bar and Restaurant at the International Hotel and selected as a finalist for the Irish Hotel's Federation Kerry Branch Employee of the Year Awards 2022 pictured with his colleagues Barbara Starzak Ann Mangan Dara McCarthy John Thompson Mark Kerrins and General Manager Catriona White. Photo: Marie Carroll-O'Sullivan

FINALIST: Noreen McGillicuddy (Senior Front of House at Aghadoe Heights Hotel & Spa) finalist at the Irish Hotel's Federation Employee of the Year Awards at the Ballygarry Hotel on Wednesday. Pictured l-r were: Patsy O'Brien Celeste Geary Linda Kennedy Noreen McGillicuddy General Manager Ewan Plenderleith Siobhan O'Shea and Maura Moriarty. Photo: Marie Carroll-O'Sullivan

FINALIST: Darren Looney Duty Manager at the Cahernane Hotel and finalist at the IHF Kerry Branch Employee of the Year Awards pictured with Emer Corridon (General Manager) and David O'Brien (Deputy General Manager) before setting off to the Ballygarry House Hotel for the awards ceremony. Photo: Marie Carroll-O'Sullivan
With 47 years hotel experience under his belt, beginning as a waiter in the Dromhall and Randles hotels, Joe was honoured to receive this year’s Irish Hotel Federation’s Kerry Employee of the Year at the Ballygarry Hotel on Wednesday.
“The Dromhall and Randles Hotel are proud to nominate long time employee and all-rounder Joe Moriarty for this year’s IHF Employee of the Year,” Bernadette Randles, Chairperson of the Kerry branch of the IHF and Vice President of the IHF National Council, said.
“Joe has been with the hotels for over 47 years and his enthusiasm and pride in the hospitality industry is still quite evident today.”
Loyal, diligent, hardworking, reliable, honest as well as being a mentor and a team player with a positive outlook are just some of the many qualities Joe possesses. Joe kickstarted his employment with Dromhall under Kay and Neil Randles in 1974 when he commenced working part-time for the up-and-coming wedding venue. His talent and excellence were soon evident and the Randles family offered Joe a full-time position working on the weddings in 1976. Back then, when the hotel closed for the winter months, Joe would travel to various other parts of the country working in hotels always looking to develop his hospitality skills further. Joe also furthered his education in hospitality when he attended the Shannon catering school and learned to carry out the much-coveted silver service.
Joe became Abbey Restaurant Manager between 1995 and 2002, meticulously overseeing the running of the restaurant and managing up to four weddings every week at the Dromhall.
“Joe has put many a young waiter and waitress through their paces, while at the same time showing them patience and kindness as they learned the skills and work. Always with an encouraging word and listening ear, you will always be left smiling after an encounter or a chat with Joe.”
Fond Memories
Joe loves the buzz of the hospitality industry and has many fond memories of the lifelong friends and colleagues he has met over the course of this employment in Dromhall and Randles, especially remembering fondly his good friend and chef Tony Lawlor.
In 1988 he was part of a group that travelled to the Caymen Islands, waitering for the IHF banquets from November to May, a group which included Bernadette Randles. Joe recalls how he and Bernadette would play pool before dinner in the evenings and confirms Bernadette is a real pool shark!
Joe remembers it was Neily Randles many years earlier that first showed him how to paint and how to hang wallpaper, skills that have become invaluable to Joe especially when in 2002, again during the winter months, when things quietened for the hotels, Joe started in the maintenance department, and the painting and decorating hasn’t stopped since. He is also one of the few employees of the hotel to have worked all through lockdown.
Joe has the greatest of admiration for Mrs Kay Randles and says that she would cook the breakfast for all the guests and then ensure that staff all had a good breakfast before they finished their shifts. Joe is never one for the lime light, working diligently and efficiently to get the job done without fuss, and it took a call from Mrs Randles for Joe to agree to put his name forward for the Employee of the Year award.
However, the greatest gift Dromhall gave Joe was the chance of meeting his partner in 1990, when she was a waitress also working in the hotel and they have been together ever since. A real Dromhall love story!
Joe is also a keen GAA man, travelling all over the country to support the Kerry team and attending many matches of his beloved Legion.
“All in the Dromhall are delighted to nominate Joe and he is always a winner in our eyes!”
News
New bio-energy therapy clinic open on Beech Road
Have you ever wondered what happens when you deal with an emotionally charged situation or experience high levels of stress daily? Your mind sends alarm signals to your body which […]

Have you ever wondered what happens when you deal with an emotionally charged situation or experience high levels of stress daily?
Your mind sends alarm signals to your body which must adapt to this emergency mode.
Muscles tense up, heart beats faster, vessels get compressed, blood pressure rises, body retains water etc. Most of us subject our bodies to this emergency mode without being aware of it.
Irina Sharapova MH has just opened a new Herbal Medicine and Bio-Energy Therapy clinic at Horan’s Health Store on Beech Road by appointment each Friday.
Both Herbal Medicine and Bio-Energy Therapy, support the body’s natural ability to heal.
During a herbal consultation the therapist suggests necessary corrections to the client’s diet and lifestyle aiming at reducing the elements that contribute to inflammation, stiffness and pain, and increasing the elements that aid healing.
Then they prepare herbal remedies specific to the client. Client’s medications are also examined to ensure that there are no conflicts with the herbal treatment.
Herbs support healing by relaxing the body and improving sleep; they are used to treat various ailments from digestive and reproductive issues to insomnia and migraines.
Bio-Energy therapy is a complementary non-contact treatment that helps to release tension from the body caused by injuries, traumas or stress.
During a Bio-Energy session the therapist scans the client’s body for signals that indicate that the energy is not flowing smoothly – these are the areas that have reacted to the Client’s emotions of fear, worry, hurt, anger, sadness etc.
The therapist “clears out” these areas until the energy flow feels smooth. Bio-Energy is helpful in the treatment of physical and emotional pain and other ailments.
It is suitable for people who do not like massages and other treatments that are performed directly on the body.
Disclaimer: Alternative therapies are not substitutes for medical advice.
For further information or to schedule an appointment please contact Irina at 086 9878941 or via email at herbsandtherapy@gmail.com. Website: https://www.herbsandtherapies.ie
News
Spotted an otter lately?
Users of Killarney National Park are being asked to keep an eye out for otters – one of the country’s rarest mammals. The National Parks and Wildlife Service IS launching […]
Users of Killarney National Park are being asked to keep an eye out for otters – one of the country’s rarest mammals.
The National Parks and Wildlife Service IS launching a new National Otter Survey and has teamed up with researchers in Queen’s University Belfast and the National Biodiversity Data Centre to collect and collate otter records from right across the country.
The new survey will map otters and compare results to the last survey, carried out in 2010-11.
NPWS teams will be looking for characteristic signs of otters at over 900 sites throughout the country, including rivers, lakes and the coast.
Members of the public are asked to keep their eyes peeled for otters and to get involved in this national survey by adding their sightings to the survey results.
Otters are mostly active at night and most typically seen at dawn or dusk. They may be spotted from bridges swimming in rivers or along the rocky seashore.
Otters are brown, about 80 cm (30 inches) long and can be seen gliding along the water surface before diving to show their distinctive long pointed tail which is almost as long again as their body.
Dr Ferdia Marnell, Mammal Specialist with the NPWS, said:
“The otter is one of Ireland’s most elusive animals so getting as many people involved in the survey as possible will be important if we are to get good coverage. Otters are rarely seen, so instead, over the coming months, NPWS staff will be searching for otter tracks and signs.”
Dr Ferdia Marnell, Mammal Specialist with the NPWS, said:
“Otters have large, webbed feet and leave distinctive footprints, but these can be hard to find. Fortunately, otters mark their territory using droppings known as spraints. Otters deposit spraints conspicuously on boulders along riverbanks, logs on lake shores or the rocky high tide line. Spraints can be up to 10 cm or 3 inches long, black through to white but commonly brown, tarry to powdery in consistency and straight or curved making them tricky to identify. Luckily, they commonly contain fish bones and crayfish shells which are the otters favoured diet making them easy to tell apart from the droppings of birds and other mammals.”
The otter and its habitat are protected under the EU Habitats Directive which requires that Ireland reports on the status of the species every six years. The next report is due in 2025.
The otter suffered significant declines across much of continental Europe during the 1970s, ‘80s and ‘90s but remained widespread in Ireland. The most recent Irish survey (2010-2011) found signs of otter from all counties of Ireland and from sea-shore to mountain streams.
The otter hunts in water, but spends much of its time on land, and as a result is vulnerable to river corridor management such as culverting, dredging and the clearance of bankside vegetation, as well as pollution, pesticides, oil spillages, coastal developments and road traffic.