Kerry Road was the first track to the Lamington National Park ranges, and it was along there that the O’Reilly family carried their farm equipment and belongings, beyond the farm selections along the Albert River valley. The Kerry primary school opened in 1884 and the Kerry Bridge Hotel was first recorded in the 1905 edition of the post office directory.
This advertisement appeared in the Beaudesert Herald 23/09/1904
“Having now completed the erection and furnishing of the above Hostelry JT
Dicks can offer the best accommodation to travellers and others. The Kerry Bridge Hotel will be found replete in every detail.
Tom Dicks who ownes the Kerry Coach run will make an application for a license on 5th October 1904″.
Licensees who later held the Kerry Bridge Hotel License were:
· Catherine Massie – 1905
· James Rafter – 1908
· Billy Berger – 1912
· Tom Power – 1913
· John Reilly Smith – 1924
· Richard Capron – 1944
· Percival Willmet – 1945
Other licensees after 1945 included Cliff White and Kevin Bowden. The last licensee was Lorrie Wilde (formerly Schipke). She had the hotel from 1970 to 1974 when the license was transferred to the Kuraby Hotel. Lorrie and her husband resided at the hotel after it ceased trading.
Guests of O’Reilly’s Guest House usually came by coach and stayed at the Kerry Bridge Hotel overnight before riding horses up the Stockyard Creek track accompanied by members of the O’Reilly’s family, to the Guest House.
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