Profits at Fitzpatrick Castle Hotel in Killiney up significantly after difficult year

The 18th-century Fitzpatrick Castle Hotel in Killiney, south Dublin, is controlled by Eithne Scott-Lennon.

Ms Scott-Lennon’s brother and well-known hotelier, John Fitzpatrick, runs two Fitzpatrick hotels in New York city.

Last November, third-generation ­hoteliers Mark and Joseph Scott-Lennon took control of the Fitzpatrick Castle Hotel in Killiney, with their mother Eithne stepping down from her role as chief executive after 22 years.

It hasn’t taken long for the two brothers to expand the Fitzpatrick Hotel Collection business following this week’s announcement that the hotel group has purchased Ireland’s oldest hotel, the O’Brien family-owned Woodenbridge Hotel and Lodge in Wicklow.

The group has purchased a profitable business, with accounts showing the firm that operates the Woodenbridge Hotel and Lodge, Woodenbridge Inn Ltd last year recorded pre-tax profits of €443,325 and this followed pre-tax profits of €484,533 in 2022.

Accumulated profits totalled €2.2m and the hotel employed 76 people.

Aggregate directors’ pay amounted to €452,516 in 2023.

The separate accounts filed by Ms Scott-Lennon’s Emdora Ltd that operates the 113-bedroom Fitzpatrick Castle Hotel show the business recorded the jump in operating profits as revenues increased by 31pc from €6.65m to €8.7m in the 12 months to the end of September last.

The directors state they “are pleased that, despite the challenges faced last year, including wage ­inflation and increased cost of operations, a strong operating profit for the year was reported”.

The company recorded pre-tax profits of €256,358 after taking into account interest payments of €279,472.

The pre-tax profit of €256,358 was up marginally on the pre-tax profits of €249,850 in 2022.

The operating profit takes account of non-cash depreciation costs of €596,738.

Staff numbers increased from 141 to 144 as staff costs increased from €3.23m to €3.79m. Directors’ remuneration of €438,734 was made up of €416,389 and pension contributions of €22,345.

At the end of last September, the company had shareholder funds of €9.5m that included accumulated profits of €1.1m. Cash funds declined from €1.24m to €724,727.