Derrynane House, the Home of Daniel O’Connell – The Liberator, in Derrynane Co Kerry is a beautiful spot and part of the Derrynane National Park and was renovated by the OPW over the winter of 2013 into the spring of 2014 at considerable expense to the Irish taxpayer. While they have done some great work including a lift to the second floor of the house there is chaos around the side of the house where the lovely coffee shop and new toilets are located. Some great wheelchair parking spots and paving leads into 2 sets of steps, one into the coffee shop and one into the toilets even though they built wheelchair accessible toilets. The pathway around the courtyard is well paved but the only way to either the toilets or the coffee shop is across deep gravel in the center of the courtyard. My late father John Curran spent 34 years in a wheelchair and his heavy electric chair would never have crossed that gravel, he was a frequent visitor to Derrynane House and Coffee shop and it was a lot more accessible in the older days. He is buried in nearby Derrynane Abbey and would be horrified at what they have now done to a local and national amenity. Daniel O’Connell was known as the Liberator but there is nothing Liberating about the new wheelchair access around Derrynane House which is a terrible shame.
2 Parking Spots with very good paving = good , but access to coffee shop on right by steps and on left to toilets also by steps ??
a 3rd set of steps from near the white door blocks the other way into the coffee shop, you could go across the gravel but why ???
Wheelchair access toilets , Door on Right = Good, Steps on Left = Not Good