The writer Leo Cullen wrote a piece about his time working as a young man in the hotel in Ardmore in the mid sixties, this my brother has Ted just found and sent to me.

The owner of the Hotel, Frank, took the young Leo under his wing to teach him about wines:

“You had to be good on wine in Ardmore in 1966- the Claude Cockburns, the William Trevors, the Molly Keans dined here in the evenings; the Fleischmanns, the Dwyers of Montenotte, the Beresfords, the Sir John Keanes .
You didn’t give them red wine with fish, you gave them German hock. You left the St Emelion breathe: Beaujolais you popped and poured fresh, Ardmore, where G and T was grace before meals.”

Thank you Leo, you have placed the family in lofty company!