The Great Southern and Western Railway Company needed 40 acres at the railhead to build both a station and a hotel, and much of the land belonged to the vast Kenmare estate. Lord Kenmare, the 4th Viscount, had spent years cultivating a private garden on the exact plot the railway wanted, and negotiations reportedly hinged on convincing him to part with it. The company prevailed, and the Railway Hotel opened in July 1854 at a cost of £18,000, believed to be the first hotel ever built by a railway company anywhere in Ireland or Britain.
Queen Victoria’s visit shortly after opening put Killarney on the map as an international tourist destination, and Thomas Cook launched some of his earliest organized tours around the town in response. The hotel added a photographic darkroom during the Edwardian era, becoming the first in Ireland to offer guests on-site film developing. Known as the Great Southern Hotel from 1896 until a 2006 rebrand, the property reclaimed its historic name in 2018 following an extensive restoration and was named Best Historic Hotel in Europe in 2020.