Kilkenny man named Manager of the Year at luxury Ashford Castle He is originally from Ballyhale Reporter: '); A Kilkenny man has been named Manager of the Year for 2020 at the five-star Ashford Castle in Mayo. Michael Duggan was revealed as this year’s worthy winner in recognition of his exceptional and loyal service to the Ashford Estate over the past 37 years. Originally from Ballyhale, in Kilkenny, Michael leads Ashford Castle’s hotel operations team. As head of hotel operations and project management, Michael plays a key part in the daily running of the luxury Mayo resort and supports the hotel’s various departments with their operational needs, which range from linen to crockery, stationery to maintenance spares and all the other unique and unusual requests that comes his way.