President’s Award for Michael Vaughan

Marian Murnane, president of IASI, presented her President’s Award to Michael Vaughan at the IASI Gala Dinner in the Armada Hotel, Spanish Point, Co. Clare.

She commended the Clare hotelier “for his dedication to training within the industry and his support of the accommodation industry”.

Michael is pictured with his wife Maria, and children Daniel and Ciallan

A fourth generation hotelier, Michael is proprietor of Vaughan Lodge Hotel, Lahinch. A past president of the Irish Hotels Federation, he is chair of the IHF Education and Training Group and is a Fellow of the Irish Hospitality Institute. He is also a prominent advocate for the tourism industry.

The Vaughan family opened a hotel on Main Street, Lahinch, run by Andrew and Annie Vaughan which was burned in the troubles of 1922 and rebuilt by Miko Vaughan and his wife Brid.

The hotel was subsequently run by Michael and Philomena Vaughan and later renamed Vaughan’s Atlantic Hotel. Michael and Phil bought the Aberdeen Arms Hotel and added 30 bedrooms and car parking in 1970 and successfully ran the only three star property at the resort until their retirement in 1989.

Eamonn and Rita Vaughan ran “Mr Eamonn’s Restaurant” in the village until 1999. The latest hospitality enterprise was built in 2005 by Michael and Maria Vaughan.