Great Southern Hotels

Great Southern Hotels was a chain of hotels owned by Irish semi-state airport operator Aer Rianta; and eventually broken up in 2006. The chain was bought by Aer Rianta from fellow semi-state company CIÉ for IE£10m in 1990.[1]

CIÉ, as operators of the state's railways, had inherited the railway hotel chains of predecessor companies - primarily the Great Southern & Western Railway, who had used the name Great Southern Hotel for their properties since the 19th Century, with the formalised Great Southern Hotels subsidiary being formed in 1963.[2] CIÉ had developed further properties closer to roadways as private car transport increased;[3] but closed other properties in the 1970s. Aer Rianta constructed hotels at its Dublin and Cork Airports, but did not extend the chain any further. It ran in to significant financial trouble in the latter era of CIÉ ownership, requiring a state bailout;[2] and again before its dissolution by Aer Rianta[4]

At the time of its break-up, the firm owned 8 hotels - 3 at Aer Rianta owned airports and 5 in other locations.[5] They also operated and part-owned the City Hotel in Derry [6]

Former Hotels

Open at time of closure
  • Cork Airport - Built in 1999. Sold to CG Hotels and originally operated as a Park Inn franchise. Now the Cork Airport Hotel
  • Derry - City Hotel, operated but only 25% owned [4]
  • Dublin Airport - Built in 1998.[3] Sold to CG Hotels and now operated as a Radisson Blu.
  • Galway Eyre Square - Built 1855. Now the Hardiman Hotel.
  • Galway Corrib Great Southern - Built 1970. Sold but ceased to operate in 2007[7] Derelict.
  • Killarney - Built 1853. Now trading as the Great Southern Hotel again after being renamed to The Malton [8]
  • Rosslare, Wexford - Built 1969, did not sell at time of original breakup and ceased to operate. Derelict.[9]
  • Shannon Airport - Built 1963. Sold to CG Hotels and now a Park Inn [10]
  • Sneem - Parknasilla Hotel, built 1895, still operating

Disposed prior to closure
  • Belfast - Russel Court Hotel, built 1972, closed 1976 after repeated bombings. Now apartments.[11]
  • Bundoran - Built 1894. Sold 1976. Has reverted to its original name of the Great Northern Hotel after the Great Northern Railway who built it. Still trading.[12]
  • Kenmare - Built 1897. Closed in the 1970s but has reopened as the Park Hotel[13]
  • Killarney Torc Hotel - Built 1968, closed in 2002. Has been demolished for a cinema[14]
  • Mulranny - sold in 1976. Now the Mulranny Park Hotel
  • Sligo - built 1927. Sold in the 1970s, reopened as the Sligo Southern Hotel in 1983 and still trading[15]

Unbuilt Proposals

References
  1. "The inn crowd" – via www.thetimes.co.uk.
  2. Murray, John (1 January 1993). "Great Southern Hotels". arrow.tudublin.ie. Retrieved 2020-06-21.
  3. "It's the end of the line for the Great Railway hotels". independent.
  4. Oliver, Emmet. "Great Southern losses 'unsustainable'". The Irish Times.
  5. "Seven of eight Great Southern Hotels sold for total of €265m". www.irishexaminer.com. August 25, 2006.
  6. Beesley, Arthur. "Great Southern takes stake in new €19m Derry hotel". The Irish Times.
  7. "Corrib Heights checks out as owner closes the hotel doors". independent.
  8. Scales, Joan. "What's in a name? Great Southern hotel returns to its roots". The Irish Times.
  9. Walsh, Dan. "Derelict Rosslare hotel finally facing demolition | WexfordToday.com". Wexford Today.
  10. "Shannon's Most Established Hotel Gets €1.8 Makeover in Time for New Season". February 17, 2017.
  11. "The Russell Court complex through the years". The Irish News. 2018-06-13. Retrieved 2020-06-21.
  12. "1894 – Great Northern Hotel, Bundoran, Co. Donegal". April 21, 2014.
  13. "The kingdom of Kenmare - Francis and John Brennan and 120 years of an institution". independent.
  14. O'Mahony, John (August 19, 2019). "Land cordoned off as machinery moves in".
  15. "The Southern Hotel Sligo". RTÉ Archives.
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