Hotel on the edge of Europe
[Documentary]
[Signal Awards Winner 2025: Best Indie Podcast - Individual Episode - Bronze]
Take a trip to Inishbofin island off the west coast of Ireland. A beloved family-run hotelis making some changes.What will their regular guests think?
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I've been going to Inishbofin, with a group of friends every Easter for years.
It's our annual secular pilgrimage to the island, where we stay at Ireland's most westerly hotel—The Doonmore, or Murray's, as the locals call it, named after the family who have run it for over half a century.
During the Winter months, changes have been afoot at the hotel. There have been rumours the hotel has made some major renovations, and today will be the first time the general public will experience the new and improved Murray's Doonmore hotel.
Come with us as we explore the hotel and the island. We'll delve into the linked history of both. We'll ask the question; what keeps people coming back year after year, generation after generation? And we'll meet some of the characters that make up the customers and staff of The Doonmore Hotel.
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Produced and narrated by John Roche
Thanks to Andrew Murray, Declan Shaw, Róisín Lafferty and all the guests and staff who talked to us.
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Special thanks to Des Kavanagh for the specific music made for this episode. As well as a musician, Des makes and restores musical instruments. Check him out at Kavanagh’s Irish Instruments on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kavanagh.irishinstruments/
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The rest of the music in the episode was recorded live at Murray's Bar, Inishbofin courtesy of YouTube via:
Andrew Murray @doonmore1
Owen Murray @owenmurray6472
Trad TG4 @tradtg4
Lugh the master craftsman @fultonHousesNYC
Pascal Jouneau @pascaljouneau3608
LiveTrad @livetrad
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Clips courtesy of RTÉ archives:
https://www.rte.ie/archives/
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Full transcript available here:
https://mrjohnroche-42475.medium.com/yarn-29-hotel-on-the-edge-of-europe-f11834c6bbf9
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Comments and feedback very welcome!
Instagram: @YarnStoryPod
email: yarnstorypodcast (at) gmail.com
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Murray's Doonmore Hotel website:
Roisin Lafferty website:
Declan Shaw instagram:
Yarn | A Story Podcast
Documentaries and dramas. Spinning yarns and unraveling them, Yarn is a podcast dedicated to storytelling at its finest.
We have 29 different stories now, each in a different style. Most episodes are standalone but some bigger stories are part of a series. We've done a 3-part doc series on the history of disability, a 2-part docu-drama about a German spy in Ireland during WW2. We've taken listeners on a trip around the Chernobyl exclusion zone, on a ride-along with a New York police officer and into the bizarre palace of a corrupt dictator.
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