Georgina Campbell Awards 2021: Ireland’s best restaurants and hotels revealed

Chapter One by Mickael Viljanen, in Dublin 1, is Ireland’s restaurant of the year in the Georgina Campbell Irish food and hospitality awards 2021. Damien Grey, of the Michelin-starred Liath in Blackrock, Co Dublin, was named chef of the year in the annual awards, now in their 23rd year.

The Park Hotel in Kenmare, which reopened this summer after a €1 million makeover by international designer Bryan O’Sullivan, took the award for best five-star hotel. Cliff at Lyons, where bedrooms and facilities have also been upgraded this year, was named best four-star hotel. The three-star winner is the Station House Hotel in Kilmessan, Co Meath.

Describing this year’s awards as “a kind of love letter to Irish food and hospitality,” editor and publisher Georgina Campbell paid tribute to those who work in the industry. “I am lost in admiration for all of the brave and dedicated people in the sector who have stretched themselves to the limit to keep their businesses (many of them family owned) going, keep their staff together if at all possible, and provide incredibly creative alternative services to customers.”

She also commended the creativity and resilence of restaurateurs and their staff. “Despite the early worries about mass closures, the most surprising thing about the last couple of years is the number of new openings, especially restaurants, cafes and, of course, food trucks, alongside some superb pivoting and diversification, notably the excellent retail operations that many restaurants have developed alongside, or sometimes to replace, the core business.”

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Campbell acknowledged the changing face of hospitality during the pandemic by introducing new awards for best pivot, best collaboration and best street food, while also rebuffing suggestions of the demise of fine dining. “While there is undoubtedly a swing towards more casual styles, and the pandemic has emphasised that, you have only to look at our restaurant of the year and chef of the year to see that the very finest of fine dining is very much alive and doing extremely well, thank you. And it is providing a strong foundation for the food tourism which will undoubtedly blossom as the pandemic recedes.”

GEORGINA CAMPBELL IRISH FOOD & HOSPITALITY AWARDS 2021

RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR
Chapter One by Mickael Viljanen, Dublin

CHEF OF THE YEAR
Damien Grey, Liath, Blackrock, Co Dublin

SEAFOOD CHEF OF THE YEAR
Denis Vaughan, Vaughans, Liscannor and Lahinch, Co Clare

'MOVERS & SHAKERS' AWARD
Alex and Carina Conyngham, Slane Castle and Rock Farm, Slane, Co Meath

PUB OF THE YEAR
The Olde Glen Carrigart Co Donegal

HOTEL OF THE YEAR
Five-star hotel: Park Hotel, Kenmare, Co Kerry
Four-star hotel: Cliff at Lyons, Celbridge, Co Kildare
Three-star hotel: The Station House Hotel, Kilmessan, Co Meath

BEST ACTIVITY BREAKS
Five-star hotel: Ashford Castle Estate, Cong, Co Mayo
Four-star hotel: Mulranny Park Hotel, Westport, Co Mayo
Three-star hotel: Arnolds Hotel Dunfanaghy Co Donegal

COUNTRY HOUSE OF THE YEAR
Enniscoe House, Ballina, Co Mayo

GUESTHOUSE OF THE YEAR
Castlewood House, Dingle, Co Kerry

B&B OF THE YEAR
Hazelwood Lodge, Ballyvaughan, Co Clare

BEST GARDENS & GARDEN STAYS
Visitor attraction: Kylemore Abbey & Victorian Walled Garden, Connemara, Co Galway
Country house and heritage gardens: Kilmokea Country Manor & Gardens, Great Island, Campile, Co Wexford
Historic garden stay and dine: Burtown House & Garden, Athy, Co Kildare
Boutique hotel and gardens: Marlfield House, Gorey, Co Wexford

OUTDOOR DINING AWARD 
Historic house: Butler House & Garden, Kilkenny, Co Kilkenny
Guesthouse: Gleesons, Roscommon, Co Roscommon
Restaurant: Old Street Restaurant, Malahide, Co Dublin

'HAPPY PLACE' AWARD
Hotel: Galgorm Spa & Golf Resort, Ballymena, Co Antrim
Restaurant: An Port Mór , Westport, Co Mayo
Cafe: Good Day Deli, Cork
Pub: Blairs Inn, Cloghroe, Co Cork
Radio: Neven Maguire, MacNean House & Restaurant, Blacklion, Co Cavan
(Marty Whelan's breakfast show on RTE LyricFM)

BUSINESS HOTEL OF THE YEAR
InterContinental Dublin, Ballsbridge, Dublin

FAMILY FRIENDLY HOTEL OF THE YEAR
Fitzgeralds Woodlands House Hotel & Spa, Adare, Co Limerick

PET FRIENDLY HOTEL OF THE YEAR
The Twelve Hotel, Barna, Co Galway

BEST PIVOT
Restaurant: Dough Bros, Galway
Chef: Gráinne Mullins , Grá Chocolates, Kilchreest, Co Galway
Person: Kevin Aherne, Sage, Midleton, Co Cork
Producer: Ballymakenny Farm, Ballymakenny, Co Louth

BEST COLLABORATIONS
Gaz Smith Michaels, Mount Merrion & Higgins Family Butchers, Sutton
Whelehans Wines & China Sichuan, Dublin

STREET FOOD OF THE YEAR
Bites by Kwanghi, Dublin

COMMUNITY AWARDS
Person: Claire Nash, Nash 19 Restaurant & Food Shop, Cork
Restaurant: Cyprus Avenue, Belfast
Event: Food on the Edge
Hotel: No. 1 Pery Square Hotel, Limerick

GLOBAL CUISINE AWARD
Rasam Restaurant, Glasthule, Co Dublin

DRINKS AWARD
Boann Distillery, Drogheda, Co Louth

MEMORABLE EXPERIENCE
The Wicklow Escape, Donard, Co Wicklow

HIDEAWAY OF THE YEAR
Barrow House, Tralee, Co Kerry

NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR 2021
Camus Farm Field Kitchen, Clonakilty, Co Cork

SUSTAINABILITY AWARD
Hotel: Gregans Castle Hotel, Ballyvaughan, Co Clare
Restaurant: BuJo, Sandymount, Dublin
Producer: Seagull Bakery, Tramore, Co Waterford
Food truck: The Salty Buoy by Niall Sabongi, Dublin

THE LITTLE THINGS AWARD
Housekeeping: Mary Bourke, The Mustard Seed, Ballingarry, Co Limerick
Toiletries: The Handmade Soap Company, Slane, Co Meath
Flowers: Flower Farmers of Ireland
Tableware: Fermoyle Pottery, Ballinskelligs, Co Kerry
Soft furnishings: Magee 1866, Donegal Town, Co Donegal

TASTE OF THE WATERWAYS AWARD
Hotel: Keenans of Tarmonbarry, Co Roscommon
Restaurant: The Red Bank Restaurant, Carrick-on-Shannon Co Leitrim
Pub: Larkins Bar & Restaurant, Garrykennedy, Co Tipperary

IRISH BREAKFAST AWARD
Hotel: The Mariner, Westport, Co Mayo
Guesthouse: The Wild Honey Inn, Lisdoonvarna, Co Clare
B&B: Bervie, Achill, Co Mayo