Grand Opening: Our New Office in Killarney, Ireland

This past Sunday on May 21, 2023, we opened our third set of doors to a new office—and this one feels special. While our first two locations sit on the East Coast of the US, our goal for years has been to find a home across the pond, specifically in Ireland.

If you’ve traveled with us, you may know Ireland was our first love, our one destination when Tenon was born over 15 years ago. Since then, we’ve expanded into 15 more countries and have had the privilege of working with thousands of curious, adventure-seeking travelers.

So, why Ireland, you ask? Our President and Founder, Bryan Lewis, envisioned this office as a goal before Tenon was ever open for business:

“I specifically remember going to Murphy’s Bar on College Street [in Killarney] where I had my first Guinness stew. It was delightful, but the building itself was even better. It was the quintessential “Ireland” that I was looking for. The facade was straight out of a storybook with its inviting windows and doors, flower boxes hanging above and the classic Irish hospitality that you dream of. The highlight for me was always the traditional pub sign that hung perpendicular above the door. I wanted a pub sign of our own. In fact, the Tenon crest was originally designed to resemble just that.”

The Ireland office lives on 18 College Street in Killarney above—yep, you guessed it—Murphy’s Bar. We’re having a full circle moment!

For the grand opening, Bryan flew over to meet up with the Irish team. Our black-and-gold sign hung above Murphy’s own, sitting perpendicular to the street and pub door. Murphy’s soft yellow pubfront with black trim certainly accentuates our own colors…it’s meant to be.

Our longtime partners in Ireland, everyone from hotel partners to tour operators to private drivers, arrived to celebrate with food and drink (Guinness provided, of course) and to check out the new office space. The inside is warm and quintessentially Irish; its windows have certainly witnessed many changes along the busy cobbled College Street below over the decades, and it’s an honor to sit behind those windows now, celebrating the area—the country—by inviting travelers to fall in love with it like we have.

While the weekend was merry merry, a celebration of a space 15 years in the making, it’s back to work this week sending you, our fantastic travelers, somewhere new to connect to the world with experiences (hopefully) even better than you imagined. After all, we’re all about connections here at Tenon.

Our Killarney office is definitely a milestone achieved, a long time coming and a culmination of hard work, but, to us, it feels like only another beginning. Here’s to many more travel-filled years ahead!