Maureen Gelletlie:UP TO a short time ago Maureen Gelletlie, who has died at the age of 91, was still involved in running Hunter's Hotel near Rathnew, Co Wicklow.
She was the redoubtable owner-manager of one of the best loved hotels in Ireland and is remembered by the many patrons as very much “the woman of the house”, who made the establishment popular not only with tourists and travellers, but also with locals.
For many customers, the hotel gardens were as much an attraction as the hospitality afforded by the hotel itself. Herbaceous borders heaving with perennials, voluptuous bright red poppies and flowering scented roses, all hemmed in by well-clipped box hedging and shingle paths, made the gardens particularly attractive and popular for afternoon tea in the spring and summer months.
Plant varieties and layout are in some instances unchanged since Victorian times, contributing greatly to the overall charm of the gardens. A discreet but nonetheless visible notice to visitors entering the gardens from the house captures both the character of the owner and the flavour of the whole establishment.
“Gentlemen do not, and others must not, pick the flowers,” it announces firmly.
Hunter’s Hotel developed from a 17th-century blacksmith’s forge by Newry Bridge (now Newrath Bridge) on the Vartry river to become a coaching inn in the early 18th century on what was then the main road to Dublin. About 1825, the lease was taken over by John Hunter, formerly a butler to the Tottenham family at Ballycurry House in nearby Ashford, and descended through his son to his granddaughter, Sarah Hunter.
Noteworthy visitors over the years have included Bram Stoker, the author of Dracula, and the artist Walter Osborne.
The exterior remains remarkably unchanged and still has the archway leading into the cobbled yard where the horses were changed. It is a rare example of a commercial building of that date. Today, Hunter’s claims to be the oldest coaching inn still operating.
Maureen Gelletlie was born in Confad, Co Cavan, where her father, Peter Murtagh, had a farm. When she left school, where she had excelled at book-keeping, she took a job in the Kilmacurragh Park Hotel in Co Wicklow, which at that time was run by the German, Charles Boudina.
She came to Hunter’s Hotel as a bookkeeper working for Sarah Hunter, and met Ms Hunter’s nephew Cecil Gelletlie. After a year, she moved to Northern Ireland where she worked in hotels in Belfast, Coleraine and the Great Northern Hotel in Rostrevor where she was junior manageress.
While there, she became concerned at the number of senior British and American officers who availed of the hotel to entertain their girlfriends overnight. Anxious to protect the reputation of the hotel, she wrote to the managing director of the chain, who replied that owing to the war she should ignore such irregularities.
When she was only 23, she was offered the position of manageress of the Great Northern Hotel in Bundoran, Co Donegal, where she remained until her marriage to Cecil, who had a watch-making and jewellery business in Wicklow town. His father, whose family had come from Scotland, had married Sarah Hunter’s sister.
After some years, Maureen Gelleltie went back to Hunter’s to assist in running the hotel. In 1964, Cecil died and Maureen was left with their five children to bring up. She also had to manage the jewellery business in Wicklow and the hotel as Sarah Hunter was now 89. She died two years later leaving the hotel to Maureen.
Though the hotel was modernised, it is not stylish or trendy. A more homely atmosphere is engendered with chintzes, open fires and the flower arrangements that Maureen did herself. The food is always excellent though the menu is somewhat old-fashioned.
The dining room is plain, but with the odd feature that the window panes have been scratched with the names and dates of patrons (presumably the ones with diamond rings) who dined here in the early part of the last century. It overlooks the garden in which she took such a pride. Part of the garden was in the past given over to a tennis court. The thwack!of a croquet mallet on ball was also heard.
It is a social place where those who live nearby meet friends. Families gather here for Sunday lunch – not “dinner”, she castigated one youthful patron, which was for the evening. Summer cream tea, scones and jams in the garden were, and remain, a delight for many patrons.
The hotel has attracted many visitors including King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden; Daniel Day Lewis, who has a house nearby, often drops in, while Maeve Binchy and Seamus Heaney are regular visitors.
Maureen Gelletlie was vice-president of the local chamber of commerce. She took an active role in the Irish Hotels Federation, was an important member of Wicklow Co Tourism and a founder member of the Irish Country Houses and Restaurant Association or Ireland’s Blue Book.
One of her great interests was the Wicklow Tennis Club and she was on the committee that oversaw the introduction of all-weather courts. She was determined that the courts should remain in the centre of town so as to be accessible to everyone, especially children.
She made Hunter’s a unique place – comfortable and above all hospitable. Though she ran a tight ship, the staff was loyal and many stayed for years to become old friends of the guests.
With her dignified appearance, distinguished looks and the keen eyes that assessed everyone who came into the hotel, she was a formidable but very warm-hearted character, who did much to promote Wicklow and Ireland.
She is survived by her three daughters and her two sons, Richard and Tom, who now manage the hotel very much in the tradition she established.
Maureen Josephine Gelletlie, born March 13th, 1919 died June 24th, 2010