Former Donegal Star - Frank Casey and the Rosapenna hotel Soon, it seems, there'll be an outlet for golfing enthusiasts in every parish of the county. Such is the rabid enthusiasm for the ball game that the words tee, pin and wedge have become household items of conversation for altogether different reasons than heretofore. Well removed from the commoner garden kitchen talk and now firmly ensconced in and around the plethora of golf courses around the country. Up in Donegal the game of golf has never been more popular. With courses like those adjoining the Rosapenna Golf Hotel in the Downings, enthusiasts there are positively spoilt rotten. The beginnings of the game of golf as played in the Downing area, that in Rosapenna has its roots in the nineteenth century when a Scot, Tom Morris, took time out to visit Donegal and take in the beautiful scenery of the Downings and its hinterland. After completing the laying of a 9-hole course for Lord Leitrim, the veteran golfer set his sights on exploiting what he perceived as the potential of the land for the game of golf. The Saint Andrews golfing guru landed in Rosapenna in 1891. Two years later there was a joint open competition held over Rosapenna and two neighbouring courses and in 1895 the club was instituted. With some modification soon after, Rosapenna was complete. One of the great natural golf courses in the country was born and haven't fans of the Rosapenna Golf Hotel been glad of it too ever since! A championship rated eighteen holer, the Rosapenna Golf Course is a combination of natural links and inland holes which stand on a peninsula between two beautiful bays. The first ten holes play along Sheephaven Bay between the beach and a range of tall sand dunes. The last eight play inland and uphill in meadow where the high grounds present distracting and delightful views. The "clubhouse" for Rosapenna is the Rosapenna Golf Hotel just pitching wedge from the first tee. Proprietor of the Rosapenna Golf Hotel is former Donegal Senior county footballer Frank Casey. A native of Downings, Frank Casey brings to bear a wealth of experience and knowledge to his work at Rosapenna Golf Hotel. Frank's connection with Rosapenna's premier hostelry stretches right back to the late fifties, when he worked at the old Rosapenna Hotel in 1958, '59, '60 and '61, during his summer holidays from school. Unfortunately the hotel was razed to the ground in 1962 by fire. Built in 1893, the Rosapenna wasn't fully re-built or re-opened until 1964. Frank Casey did most of his training for the hotel and catering business in London and Paris, graduating to become the Rosapenna's Assistant Manager between the years 1965 and '72. Schooled at Milford Technical School, Frank quit the Rosapenna in 1972 and purchased the Milford Hotel the same year. For five years, the Downings Hotel Management graduate built up business at his Milford establishment before disposing of the property in 1977. At this stage he reverted back to helping out at his family-run holiday park concern in Downings, managing what was then a burgeoning enterprise. In 1981, Frank took the extremely brave step of purchasing the self same Rospenna Hotel, taking on a massive undertaking of borrowing totalling some half a million pounds. Any apprehension then? "I agree it was a massive undertaking but I knew that I knew the hotel business through and through and I had a lot of confidence in my ability to make the investment pay. My wife Hilary had also a lot of experience of the hotel business and thankfully she's still involved very much. Back then I was confident that the market had potential and that I could realise it via business". Nearly fourteen years on and truth to tell, Frank Casey has no regrets about the huge financial plunge he took. Quite the opposite he admits to having never looked back. He has pumped in a lot of money upgrading the golf course(s) and refurbishing the hotel itself. Now it has forty-six bedrooms in total, all ensuite, is rated a Four Star establishment and employees a total of sixty people during the off-peak season and ninety in the high season. One of only thirty-six Four Star hotels in the country, the Rosapenna Golf Hotel has benefited to the tune of some two million pounds under Frank Casey's astute stewardship. "Things continue to go well for us. Sixty-five percent of the business we receive is pre-booked which gives us a good foundation to build on each year. Overall we feel that we're looking at a huge market which is out there, ready to be exploited. For years, Donegal was the forgotten county of Ireland, forgotten by the Government and Bord Failte. When you consider that from 1972 to 1994 the bulk of business from the United Kingdom went to the south of the country. Thankfully a lot of this business is now moving north and with the recent cessation of violence Donegal stand to gain even more," Frank enthused. In truth, Frank Casey has much to enthuse about. The Rosapenna Golf Hotel looks well geared to hit the jackpot in terms of gleaning substantial favour with Irish and foreign visitors alike in the coming years. The attraction of his golf courses will be copper-fastened as the core part of his business. He seems to have backed a winner too. For anyone wishing to mix golf with a touring holiday, the Rosapenna is the business. Married to Hilary and proud father of Frank, Catherine and John, Frank holds court in an area famed for its beautiful and unspoilt scenery. The peninsulas around Mulroy and Sheephaven bays can take a bodies breath away while the sheer majesty and beauty of Mount Errigal will enthral. A veteran of Donegal Senior county football teams in the sixties and seventies and a faithful servant of the Downings GAA Club, Frank Casey can offer visitors to his hotel the most prized natural scenery there can be found in the whole of the country. Close by the Rosapenna Golf Hotel is the Glenveagh National Park, Ards Forest Park and historic Doe Castle. For the music lover visitors to the area can enjoy traditional music in a number of friendly Donegal pubs while others can afford of the local bike hire facilities, ramble through the unspoilt scenery at their leisure. Simply said, the Rossapenna Golf Hotel offers the best of Irish golf, hospitality and scenery. The quality of the golf, unlimited access to the links and the superb facilities in the Rosapenna itself has attracted golfers to Frank Casey's established like bees to honey. Visitors to the Rosapenna can golf in a golfing atmosphere, enjoy the genuinely warm Donegal hospitality and drink in the wonderful scenery and pure Atlantic air. The Rosapenna food is fresh from the unpolluted sea, the hotel bar is friendly, spacious and makes for an extremely pleasant nineteenth hole. Providing golf clinics for the serious enthusiast, the Rosapenna Golf Hotel's resident professional in Don Patterson, a member of the PGA and a professional who tailors his sessions to suit both the needs of individuals groups. Proud as punch to be in a position to sponsor the Downings gaelic games effort, Frank can thank local heros from the past such as Mick Galligan, Manus Mor, Kevin Blayney, Paul Blayney, Joe Quinn, Michael McGee and Peter Shovlin for inspiring him to county Senior action. A fast, mobile 5'11 midfielder in his time, Frank now admires the work at club level at the Downings as manifested by the hands-on efforts of such stalwarts as Paddy McBride, Michael Doherty and Hugh McClafferty. They deserve the support for all their efforts especially these days given the high cost of running a club." Perfectly putt by Frank. Now for a round with Down in over seventy minutes when the greens will play fast and the drives will carry further. Celebrations at the 19th at Rosapenna Golf Hotel and in the dressing room in St. Tiarnach's Park? Time will tell, time will tell. Written by the Hogan Stand Magazine 3rd March 1995 Tweet

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