Oliver and Mary Kerr launched the Glenside as a top quality guesthouse nearly 50 years ago

HARD to believe that we are just two years away from marking a half century of the quite unique Glenside Hotel on the Dublin Road.

The Glenside opened in 1968 as a guest house, aimed at tourists, commercial travellers, industrialists and businessmen using the then main road to Belfast.

It was opened for business and managed by Ardee man Oliver Kerr and his wife, Mary, a native of the West of Ireland. (pictured).

Mr. Kerr was no stranger to NorthSouth travellers. He opened a petrol station and restaurant at Smithstown in 1959 and ran a very successful business there until he disposed of the concern to a petrol company. Thousands of cars stopped at the petrol station and many customers used the restaurant facilities as well.

Oliver’s brother, John Kerr, were the building contractors firm responsible for the Glenside.

The guesthouse was fitted with nine double bedrooms, with bathrooms attached, a sittingroom, dining-room and reception area.

The bedrooms were described as ‘an exercise in interior decoration with mellow Navan carpets on the floor, single or double beds with overhead lamps, huge built-in wardrobes and a writing desk.’

Messrs. Turlough C Lynch and Associates, , Rathfarnham, were the architects.

So, 2018, watch for the Glenside!