A short movie featuring celebrities enjoying Clifden’s Abbeyglen Castle Hotel has gone viral after being shown on the famous screens in New York’s Times Square. Ryan Tubridy, Brendan Grace, Mary Kennedy, Sharon Shannon, Tony Tormey and the late Tony Fenton star in I’m a Celebrity Get Me In There promoting the historic Connemara Manor House Hotel to New Yorkers.
Manor House Hotels member Abbeyglen Castle made its debut on the big screen in Times Square, New York this week in a bid to woo even more North American visitors to the historic four-star hotel. And, in doing so, the owners of the Connemara property have enlisted the help of some of its most famous friends.
Ryan Tubridy, Brendan Grace, Mary Kennedy, Sharon Shannon, Tony Tormey and the late Tony Fenton each set aside the day-job to step in and help the team (literally! ) at Abbeyglen Castle create a four-minute movie, called I’m a Celebrity Get Me In There.
The four-minute movie was screened during the morning rush-hour, giving commuters some light-hearted holiday inspiration, before a huge digital building wrap showing pictures of the hotel and Connemara lit up the building at No.3 Times Square for 24-hours.
North America is an important market for Abbeyglen Castle with approximately 60 per cent of guests between May and September coming from the United States of America and Canada. Last year alone, the hotel experienced a 20 per cent increase in North American guests, largely due to increased connectivity and its location on the Wild Atlantic Way.
The 45-room Abbeyglen Castle was built in 1832 by John d’Arcy of Clifden Castle and overlooks Clifden Bay. It has been owned and managed by the Hughes family for the past 35 years and has played host to celebrities such as Bill Clinton and his daughter Chelsea, Mia Farrow, Woody Allen and Peter O’Toole to name but a few.
For owner Brian Hughes, the movie has an extra-special significance as it opens with a message from the late legendary DJ Tony Fenton who was only too delighted to join the other stars in promoting the hotel. “Tony Fenton was a great friend of the hotel and I would like to extend our condolences to his family and friends. Hearing his voice this morning was a wonderful reminder of how full of life he was as well as some of the antics we shared at the castle.
“Indeed, just two years ago I had the honour of awarding Tony the Freedom of Connemara,” said Brian Hughes last night.
“It is incredible to be here in Times Square. Approximately 330,000 people pass through here every day and all of them are seeing the great welcome and product we offer, not just at Abbeyglen Castle in Connemara, but across all of Ireland. We’ve just celebrated St. Patrick’s Day which really helped set the tone for today.
“We’re delighted by the response from the people we’ve spoken to on the street and look forward to welcoming some of them to the castle in the future,” he said.
For those of you not in New York, the movie is also available to view at www.abbeyglen.ie or click play below.
