Jackie Lavin is a former model. Following a successful modelling career she forged her business career running her very successful fashion business with a number of retail shops.
In 1991 she and her partner Bill Cullen bought the Muckross Park Hotel an 18th century roadhouse in the national park in Killarney, Co Kerry.
She designed Molly Darcy’s traditional pub and restaurant which won pub of the year in its first year of business and continued to win the best pub in Kerry award for 11 years in a row. It has also won numerous food awards.
In 2006 she developed the hotel into a 70 bedroom resort with a monastic themed state of the art spa. It received a 5 star accreditation in its first year of business.
The cloisters spa was nominated in the top 5 spas in the UK and Ireland in 2009.
She is currently working on the development of her own cosmetic range “Cloisters Cosmetics” and her own organic skincare range
She has worked on many high profile projects for Renault distributers i.e. the Liffey Valley Motor Mall, Airside Motor Mall, Rosslare Vehicle Imports, and the Europa Academy
She is currently working on developing a block of luxury residential lifestyle suites in Killarney adjacent to the 5 star Muckross Park Hotel
She continues to work as a director of Glencullen with a specific role in marketing and developing ad campaigns
Jackie is a judge on “the apprentice” TV show now in its 3rd season on TV3. The show won an IFTA award for “The Best TV Show” 2009 and also won awards in four categories at the TV Now awards.
She has also been a guest on numerous TV and radio shows i.e. The Late Late Show 3 times, the Marian Finucane Show, Ireland am, Midday, Midweek, The Last Word
She is a trustee of the Irish Youth Foundation , on the board of the Kerry Diocesan Youth Services and Chairperson of St. Mary’s College fundraising committee. She is a dedicated charity fundraiser and constantly fundraises for St Vincent de Paul, the Famine Fund and numerous others.
