About this business
The Blue Haven Hotel occupies a historic building at the heart of Kinsale — the celebrated harbour town on the west Cork coast of Ireland, widely regarded as the country’s gourmet capital and one of its most distinctive small towns. The building stands on the site of Kinsale’s old fish and meat markets, which date to 1784, and some of the original archways, openings, and wall finishes from that earlier structure survive in the restored hotel that occupies the site today. With 16 individually appointed bedrooms and the Blue Haven Suite, four dining and drinking spaces, and a reputation as one of Ireland’s finest boutique hotels — recognised as No.1 Boutique Hotel in Ireland at the Irish Hospitality Awards in 2017 and 2019 — the Blue Haven brings genuine warmth, local character, and award-winning hospitality to what it offers wedding couples and their guests.
Kinsale is an exceptional location for a destination wedding in Ireland. Its medieval streets, colourful painted facades, working harbour, and international food reputation give it a character that is both authentically Irish and unusually cosmopolitan. The town sits at the mouth of the Bandon River where it meets the sea, with the ruins of Desmond Castle and the star-shaped Charles Fort visible from the water, and the beginning of the Wild Atlantic Way — Ireland’s dramatic coastal touring route — just steps from the hotel’s door. The combination of natural beauty, food culture, and historic character makes Kinsale one of the most visited and celebrated small towns in Ireland, and the Blue Haven is at its very centre.
For weddings at the Blue Haven, the hotel’s intimate scale suits small, exclusive celebrations where the focus is on personal service, exceptional food and drink, and the particular warmth of a family-run Irish hotel that has earned its place in Ireland’s hospitality landscape. The hotel’s dining offer includes a restaurant serving seasonal local produce and seafood, a fish market bistro, a bar and lounge, and Rare 1784 — a whiskey and cocktail bar that takes its name from the year the original market buildings on this site were established. Live music is hosted seven nights a week, and the bar’s atmosphere on a Kinsale evening is part of what makes an event at the Blue Haven distinctly different from a conventional hotel wedding.
The hotel’s 16 bedrooms and the Blue Haven Suite are individually styled, each equipped with pillow menus, Nespresso machines, Apple TVs, and Dyson products — the kind of considered details that reflect a genuinely independent hotel’s commitment to its guests rather than a chain’s standardised offer. For a wedding party arriving in Kinsale, the Blue Haven provides accommodation of real character within walking distance of everything the town offers: its restaurants and bars, its harbour and market square, and the walks and water activities that bring guests back to the west Cork coast year after year.
The Blue Haven Hotel is located on Pearse Street in the centre of Kinsale, County Cork, approximately 25 kilometres from Cork Airport and 50 kilometres from Cork city. Cork Airport is served by direct flights from most major UK and European cities, making Kinsale readily accessible for a destination wedding in Ireland, and the drive from Cork through the countryside of west Cork to the hotel is itself a pleasure. For couples planning a wedding celebration in one of Ireland’s finest harbour towns, with accommodation and dining of the highest standard available on-site, the Blue Haven is the natural choice.