Waiting in the reception of a building off St Stephen’s Green to speak with Francis Brennan, the lady behind the desk informs me that the hotelier-come-television star is the exact same in person as he is on screen.
“He’ll go into the room downstairs, he’ll be sorting out, fluffing the cushions and all that,” she laughs.
Sure enough, when I ask Francis about correcting cushions he gives me a masterclass. “You’ll nearly need a camera for this,” he jokes.
When restoring cushions to their appropriate glory, Francis demonstrates that you push in and pull out on diagonal corners several times, give it one good belt and voilà, a plump cushion. Of course, don’t forget to leave it with the zip facing down.
Francis Brennan, The Park Hotel, Kenmare, Co Kerry. \ Don MacMonagle
Being in Francis’s presence is, in truth, great fun. He is renowned for his attention to detail and this always proves to be great viewing on his television show At Your Service. However, as amusing as his mannerisms may be, attention to detail is also the secret to success behind the five-star Park Hotel Kenmare, owned by Francis and his brother John Brennan.
Hard work
That said, it would be misleading to let you think it is just attention to detail that has made Francis and the Park Hotel renowned. It is also the hard work the Brennan brothers put in. When Irish Country Living meets Francis, he is doing a number of interviews on the same day as part of a campaign with Specsavers Audiologists, raising awareness of the need for people to get their hearing tested.
This journalist sympathises with him about having to do so many interviews. He brushes it off. Sitting down and speaking is not work for this man. Francis’s father was a grocer and it was from him he learned his hard graft.
"My father was a grocer and he worked hard. I used to always help him in the shop. I was working hard lifting boxes, bales of briquettes, bags of potatoes."
I was moving that stuff all the time, all my life. I suspect that I learned to work hard when I was young.
“I think I have seven interviews today, people would say to me: ‘Oh my god.’ This is a joke in my life, sitting here talking to you, that’s not work.
"Other people think, oh I’m exhausted because I’ve done seven interviews. Will you get off the stage, I could run a marathon at four o’clock!”
Ageing
As energetic as Francis is, I ask has he slowed down any bit with age? Absolutely not, he informs me.
“The only example I have of getting older myself is that I have an apartment in Spain, which I have had for 20 years.
"When you are going down the street they would hand out the vouchers, the things for a nightclub, two drinks for one or whatever it would be,” he explains.
“About two or three years ago they stopped handing me things and I suddenly thought, ‘oh I’ve gotten old, because they obviously thought, that fella is not going to the nightclub so forget that’. That was the first example of, ‘oh you’re old’.
“In America it’s over 60 for most things, half price into a museum or whatever it is. So of course I’m delighted to be getting money off because I’m over 60, but I don’t ever look at age."
I don’t think I’m 64, never. In my mind I’m in my 40s.
Part of the reason Francis may feel so youthful is the fact that he always looked after his health. He does not drink or smoke and as he says himself, he goes for the full ‘MOT’ every couple of years. And, even though he is promoting Specsavers Audiologists, he has perfect hearing.
“The staff tell me I could hear the grass grow, so I’m lucky in that respect because I need my ears for my business,” he chuckles.
Good manners
Francis grew up in Dublin. His family moved to Sligo after he had left home, as his mother is originally from there. It was there that John was educated and they have both a bother and a sister married in Sligo now. As well-known as Francis is for his mannerisms and quips, he is also noted for his impeccable etiquette. It is from his mother, 95 and still “flying” around the place, that he gets his good manners.
Francis Brennan
“I just think I’m normal, the problem is that other people are not normal and they have worse manners. When I’m walking, I step back and I go on the outside. I just do that automatically, I always walk outside a lady on the street.
“When I’m driving into Kiltamagh, Clonakilty or any town, I see youngsters and their boyfriends. They’re on the inside and I think to myself, oh no you can’t do that. Then when I see a lad walking on the outside of the girl I think, good man.”
Francis is known and loved far and wide. With At Your Service now filming series 11 and many other appearances lined up, it is clear that he won’t be going anywhere, any time soon.
Read more
Living Life: Fantastic Francis
Dermot Bannon: Architecture and design is my life
Waiting in the reception of a building off St Stephen’s Green to speak with Francis Brennan, the lady behind the desk informs me that the hotelier-come-television star is the exact same in person as he is on screen.
“He’ll go into the room downstairs, he’ll be sorting out, fluffing the cushions and all that,” she laughs.
Sure enough, when I ask Francis about correcting cushions he gives me a masterclass. “You’ll nearly need a camera for this,” he jokes.
When restoring cushions to their appropriate glory, Francis demonstrates that you push in and pull out on diagonal corners several times, give it one good belt and voilà, a plump cushion. Of course, don’t forget to leave it with the zip facing down.
Francis Brennan, The Park Hotel, Kenmare, Co Kerry. \ Don MacMonagle
Being in Francis’s presence is, in truth, great fun. He is renowned for his attention to detail and this always proves to be great viewing on his television show At Your Service. However, as amusing as his mannerisms may be, attention to detail is also the secret to success behind the five-star Park Hotel Kenmare, owned by Francis and his brother John Brennan.
Hard work
That said, it would be misleading to let you think it is just attention to detail that has made Francis and the Park Hotel renowned. It is also the hard work the Brennan brothers put in. When Irish Country Living meets Francis, he is doing a number of interviews on the same day as part of a campaign with Specsavers Audiologists, raising awareness of the need for people to get their hearing tested.
This journalist sympathises with him about having to do so many interviews. He brushes it off. Sitting down and speaking is not work for this man. Francis’s father was a grocer and it was from him he learned his hard graft.
"My father was a grocer and he worked hard. I used to always help him in the shop. I was working hard lifting boxes, bales of briquettes, bags of potatoes."
I was moving that stuff all the time, all my life. I suspect that I learned to work hard when I was young.
“I think I have seven interviews today, people would say to me: ‘Oh my god.’ This is a joke in my life, sitting here talking to you, that’s not work.
"Other people think, oh I’m exhausted because I’ve done seven interviews. Will you get off the stage, I could run a marathon at four o’clock!”
Ageing
As energetic as Francis is, I ask has he slowed down any bit with age? Absolutely not, he informs me.
“The only example I have of getting older myself is that I have an apartment in Spain, which I have had for 20 years.
"When you are going down the street they would hand out the vouchers, the things for a nightclub, two drinks for one or whatever it would be,” he explains.
“About two or three years ago they stopped handing me things and I suddenly thought, ‘oh I’ve gotten old, because they obviously thought, that fella is not going to the nightclub so forget that’. That was the first example of, ‘oh you’re old’.
“In America it’s over 60 for most things, half price into a museum or whatever it is. So of course I’m delighted to be getting money off because I’m over 60, but I don’t ever look at age."
I don’t think I’m 64, never. In my mind I’m in my 40s.
Part of the reason Francis may feel so youthful is the fact that he always looked after his health. He does not drink or smoke and as he says himself, he goes for the full ‘MOT’ every couple of years. And, even though he is promoting Specsavers Audiologists, he has perfect hearing.
“The staff tell me I could hear the grass grow, so I’m lucky in that respect because I need my ears for my business,” he chuckles.
Good manners
Francis grew up in Dublin. His family moved to Sligo after he had left home, as his mother is originally from there. It was there that John was educated and they have both a bother and a sister married in Sligo now. As well-known as Francis is for his mannerisms and quips, he is also noted for his impeccable etiquette. It is from his mother, 95 and still “flying” around the place, that he gets his good manners.
Francis Brennan
“I just think I’m normal, the problem is that other people are not normal and they have worse manners. When I’m walking, I step back and I go on the outside. I just do that automatically, I always walk outside a lady on the street.
“When I’m driving into Kiltamagh, Clonakilty or any town, I see youngsters and their boyfriends. They’re on the inside and I think to myself, oh no you can’t do that. Then when I see a lad walking on the outside of the girl I think, good man.”
Francis is known and loved far and wide. With At Your Service now filming series 11 and many other appearances lined up, it is clear that he won’t be going anywhere, any time soon.
Read more
Living Life: Fantastic Francis
Dermot Bannon: Architecture and design is my life
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