The English-born man, in his 60s, whose name was added to the UK sex offenders register following a conviction for child molestation in Liverpool in the 1990s, was accommodated at the hotel along with his disabled wife after a group of over 40 local people in the Scartaglin area outside Killarney marched on the couple's home last month. The cost of a one-week stay at the hotel is up to 2,000.

Gardai are investigating a series of incidents in which convicted sex offenders' homes have been targeted in Kerry in recent months. It is understood that the marches on the homes of sex offenders were led by concerned groups of parents in the Listowel, Castleisland and Killarney areas of the county.

Among the issues probed by gardai is how the identity of the sex offenders were disclosed to the public in the local communities in which they were living. Such information is supposed to be confidential and to be shared only between the council and gardai.

It is understood that in the case of the UK sex offender, William Hall, a group of local parents arranged a meeting at their local GAA clubhouse, after which they marched on his home. Hall was not present at the rented property, but the vigilante group informed his wife, who suffers from cerebral palsy, that her husband had days to leave the area.

Hall and his partner had been living in the area for several years and had been approved for local authority housing by Kerry county council. It is understood that the march on their home was motivated by local rumours that Hall was to be given permanent accommodation in the area.

The Sunday Tribune has learned that gardai provided a security presence at the rented property Hall shared with his wife in the Cnoc na Run estate in Scartaglin while he was vacating the premises.

Kerry County Council decided to accommodate the man in a luxury hotel rather than place him in B&B accommodation. "The hope was that in a large hotel he'd be safer and his identity would be less likely to be disclosed. There was a lot of hysteria and aggression locally to the man's presence, " a senior council figure told the Sunday Tribune.

Hall's accommodation was paid for through a discretionary fund under the auspices of the council's housing department. The hotel's management did not comment when asked by the Sunday Tribunewhether the council had informed them of Hall's conviction for sex offences. Kerry County Council did not respond to contacts made last week by the Sunday Tribune about the issue. The English couple have since moved by agreement and are understood to be living in Offaly.

In another case, a Kerryman in his 30s who served a custodial sentence in relation to a serious offence against a child in the county several years ago, and who cannot be named for legal reasons, was visited by a group of concerned parents at his home in Causeway, Co Kerry, and informed that he had several days to leave the area. He subsequently moved away.