After spending about 5 days traveling the west coast of Ireland, this gem of a B&B provided our group with a much needed respite. Our trip to Kinsale from Dingle, for those who have traveled the same know, was all but relaxing. We were greeted warmly although we were about 5 hours late for our ETA. The proprietor (Tom) was very helpful in getting us settled and off to our Valentine's dinner quickly.

The room was cozy (the one on the top floor), and my mate and I enjoyed the best night of sleep in Ireland. It was quiet and very relaxing. A perfect Valentine's night. The hot pot, with tea and coffee in the room, was a nice touch we hadn't seen at other B&B's.

Order the Pancakes for breakfast: The omelettes were excellent. They were of perfect consistency with an excellent fresh flavor. The coffee was tops. French-pressed table coffee was a nice touch. Everything was great at breakfast but the Pancakes were incredible. They are of crepe style, with plenty of butter, a marvelous touch of citrus, with wonderful fresh ice cream on the side. Ice cream and pancakes sounds a little bizarre but now I'm planning on introducing the same to my Sunday morning breakfast experiments.

In all a very pleasant experience and will recommend this place to all friends who choose to travel to Kinsale. Perfect for young professionals who want a break from the usual tourist trap.

My husband and I stayed at the Gallery on the last weekend of January. We were dwlighted with the central location and found it very easy to find. We parked around the back and were helped up the stairs with our bags by the propriotor. Made on request he suggested a few things to do during our stay, such as visit Charles Fort and take a walk down the Pier.

Our room was very comfortable and warm considering the time of year. On coming in at evening time we were entertained with some lovely piano playing.

The breakfast choise was extensive. I had the smoked salmon with scrambled egg and my husband tried the ham and mushroom omlette.

All in all a great stay and will recommend!

September/2007
Canada

We had been travelling in Ireland for almost 2 weeks and had been in B&B's that were clean and well kept with caring and lovely staff. We arrived at The Gallery and were shown to our room. It was run down and dirty. The bed was extremely hard. We went back downstairs and discussed not staying here. When we told Mr. O'Hare that we could not stay because the bed was too hard for my back and I had allergies to dust. We tried to be polite as we don't ever want to hurt anyone's feelings and we realize that this is his home. He got very angry and finally threatened us that if we were to leave, he would charge us on our visa for the room anyway.

My husband said that it was not about the money, but the poor condition and dirtiness of the room. He had tried to be polite, but Mr. O'Hare continued to get very, very angry and was yelling at my husband. We just got into our car and drove away. Ironically, five days before, we had been shopping in Derry in Northern Ireland and had
accidently left our visa at the store. We didn't discover this until we were in Donegal, so we phoned and cancelled the visa as we always travel with at least 3. Because of this, Mr. O'Hare would have been unable to charge our room.

Upon driving away, our only concern was getting away from a very angry
man who obviously, was making us feel extremely nervous. This was our only bad experience in Ireland and fortunately, it was over and done with very quickly.

We ended up staying a the Lotamore Lodge which is closer to Cork. It is 200 years old and full of character. The room was immaculate and the breakfast was superb, with white linen table cloths and shining silver everywhere. It was only 20 Euro more than The Gallery.

We were greeted by the owner on arrival and advised on how to operate the T.V and skylight. On first inspection the room although, very small, looked comfortable. It wasn't. The dust on the tables and pictures was very thick and kept me coughing most of the night. The beds were left unmade and the mattress was so worn, it was like sleeping on an ironing board. The bathroom was a joke.....being barely large enough to turn around in, without being prodded, poked or hitting your head on the shelf under the mirror. The help employed there, was no help at all and certainly did not do any cleaning. I was even asked to carry clean cups and spoons up to our room.....because I was going up anyway?? The place itself is charming and the owner is nice but evidently does not pay much attention as to how his property is being run.