About this business
The Old Bank House is a Georgian townhouse guest house 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 began its life as a bank in the nineteenth century, which is the origin of its name, and was subsequently restored as a seventeen-bedroom guest house of exceptional character, with individually designed bedrooms, original sash windows overlooking the town, and the kind of personal, unhurried service that defines the best of Irish hospitality. With its sister property The Blue Haven Hotel just one minute’s walk away, the Old Bank House forms part of a larger offering that makes Kinsale’s finest accommodation available to wedding parties arriving from across Ireland and Europe.
The Old Bank House and The Blue Haven Hotel are operated together as Kinsale’s leading independent hospitality destination, and for a wedding in Kinsale, the two properties work in concert: the ceremony and reception are hosted at the Blue Haven Hotel, while the Old Bank House’s seventeen rooms provide accommodation for the wedding party and their guests within walking distance of everything the town offers. The arrangement means that a wedding at this pair of properties has the feel of taking over Kinsale’s finest address — the Blue Haven’s restaurants, bars, and event spaces combined with the Old Bank House’s beautifully appointed rooms and a gourmet food store stocked with hampers, chocolates, and house-made provisions.
The Old Bank House itself carries the marks of its nineteenth-century origins in its Georgian architecture, fine period pieces, and original artwork, combined with modern amenities and the particular warmth of a small guest house whose staff has time for every guest. The Reading Room provides a quiet retreat, and the gourmet café — serving pastries, snacks, and light meals, with picnics available to order — adds a further dimension to what is on offer for a wedding party staying over a full weekend in Kinsale. For dinner, guests cross to the Blue Haven Hotel, where the kitchen draws on west Cork’s outstanding food culture and the town’s long tradition of seafood.
Kinsale itself provides a setting of real quality for a destination wedding. Its medieval streets, brightly painted houses, international food reputation, working harbour, and the rolling hills of west Cork beyond make it one of the most visited and celebrated small towns in Ireland — a place with genuine character that is distinct from the more polished resort towns of Ireland’s east coast. The ruins of Desmond Castle, the star-shaped Charles Fort, the estuary walks along the Bandon River, and the proximity to the beginning of the Wild Atlantic Way all contribute to what can be offered to guests who arrive the day before the wedding and stay the day after.
The Old Bank House is located at 11 Pearse Street in central 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 throughout the year, making Kinsale readily accessible for a destination wedding in Ireland. For couples planning a wedding in one of Ireland’s finest harbour towns, with the character of a Georgian guest house and the award-winning hospitality of the Blue Haven Hotel just steps away, the Old Bank House is the natural base for the wedding party.