Hotel Metropole | |
---|---|
Former names | Prince of Wales Hotel |
General information | |
Status | Closed and demolished |
Type | Hotel |
Classification | |
Address | 35-39 O'Connell Street Upper, Dublin 1 |
Town or city | Dublin |
Country | Republic of Ireland |
Opened | 1893 |
Demolished | 1916 |
Technical details | |
Floor count | 6 |
Design and construction | |
Architect(s) | William Mitchell |
References | |
[1] |
The Hotel Metropole (The Met) was a notable landmark hotel in Dublin, Ireland. It was located next to the General Post Office building in O'Connell Street. Originally four Georgian buildings, they were combined to form a unified hotel in a high-french style by architect William M. Mitchell in 1891–93. Various architectural additions and embellishments were included to make the building look more French including a mansard roof with rounded dormer windows. This followed the style other Dublin hotels were adopting at the time including the Shelbourne Hotel and nearby the Jury's Hotel at College Green.
The building was badly damaged during the Easter Rising and the remains were ultimately demolished. The hotel's owners received significant compensation following the final report of the Property Losses (Ireland) Committee.
In 1922, a neoclassical building, designed by Aubrey V. O'Rourke, was built out of the ruins - The Metropole - and this building included a cinema and a ballroom, as well as a couple of bars and a restaurant, the Georgian Room. The Met closed on 11 March 1972 and the building was sold to British Home Stores who demolished it. [2] [3]
The replacement was a modernist nondescript modern retail building constructed by G&T Crampton in 1977. [4] As of 2022, the building houses a large Penneys shop. [5] [6]
O'Connell Street is a street in the centre of Dublin, Ireland, running north from the River Liffey. It connects the O'Connell Bridge to the south with Parnell Street to the north and is roughly split into two sections bisected by Henry Street. The Luas tram system runs along the street.
Georgian Dublin is a phrase used in terms of the history of Dublin that has two interwoven meanings:
Clerys was a long-established department store on O'Connell Street in Dublin, Ireland, a focal point of the street. The business dates from 1853, however the current building dates from 1922, having been completely destroyed in the 1916 Easter Rising. Clerys completed a five-year restoration programme in 2004 at a cost of €24 million. A renovation project is currently underway to restore the building and will include converting the layout from that of a department store to that of various businesses operating under the same roof.
St Stephen's Green is a garden square and public park located in the city centre of Dublin, Ireland. The current landscape of the park was designed by William Sheppard. It was officially re-opened to the public on Tuesday, 27 July 1880 by Lord Ardilaun. The square is adjacent to one of Dublin's main shopping streets, Grafton Street, and to a shopping centre named after it, while on its surrounding streets are the offices of a number of public bodies as well as a stop on one of Dublin's Luas tram lines. It is often informally called Stephen's Green. At 22 acres (8.9 ha), it is the largest of the parks in Dublin's main Georgian garden squares. Others include nearby Merrion Square and Fitzwilliam Square.
The Capitol Theatre, was located in Prince's Street, just off O'Connell Street, Dublin and began life on 10 August 1920 as the La Scala Theatre and Opera House designed by architect T.F. McNamara it had two balconies in the 1,900 seat auditorium with 32 private boxes. Despite its name, the La Scala was a cinema. Paramount Pictures took over the lease on the building and renamed it the Capitol in 1927. Under new management, the Capitol ran a live show every week to accompany the current film. Well-known Irish acts to appear in these shows included Peggy Dell, Martin Crosbie, brother of Paddy Crosbie, creator of the School Around the Corner, and Sean Mooney. The last stage show was on 29 October 1953. The Capitol continued as a cinema until 1972. It was demolished along with the adjacent Metropole Cinema and a branch of the department store chain British Home Stores was built on the site. This in turn closed and was replaced by a branch of the Irish Penneys chain.
As with other cities in Ireland, Limerick has a history of great architecture. A 1574 document prepared for the Spanish ambassador attests to its wealth and fine architecture:
The architecture of Ireland is one of the most visible features in the Irish countryside – with remains from all eras since the Stone Age abounding. Ireland is famous for its ruined and intact Norman and Anglo-Irish castles, small whitewashed thatched cottages and Georgian urban buildings. What are unaccountably somewhat less famous are the still complete Palladian and Rococo country houses which can be favourably compared to anything similar in northern Europe, and the country's many Gothic and neo-Gothic cathedrals and buildings.
Dublin is one of the oldest capital cities in Europe – dating back over a thousand years. Over the centuries and particularly in the 18th century or Georgian era, it acquired a distinctive style of architecture. Since the 1960s, Dublin has been extensively re-developed, sometimes resulting in the replacement of earlier buildings. Some of this has been controversial with preservationists regarding the development as unwelcome.
Dawson Street is a street on the southern side of central Dublin, running from St Stephen's Green to the walls of Trinity College Dublin. It is the site of the residence of the Lord Mayor of Dublin, the Mansion House.
Molesworth Street is a street in Dublin, Ireland named after Richard Molesworth, 3rd Viscount Molesworth and links the more notable Dawson Street with Kildare Street and lies just over 200 m to the north of St. Stephens Green in Dublin's central business district.
O'Connell Street is the main thoroughfare of the city of Limerick. It was previously known as George's Street until it was renamed after Daniel O'Connell. The street runs in parallel to the River Shannon and forms part of an overall thoroughfare, along with Rutland Street and Patrick Street, that bisects Limerick City Centre in a north east to south west direction. The street is about a mile in length, starting at the Arthurs Quay / Denmark Street junction and ending at The Crescent. A monument to Daniel O'Connell stands at the centre of The Crescent overlooking O'Connell Street. The street is noted for its Georgian architectural heritage.
Parnell Street is a street in Dublin, Ireland, which runs from Capel Street in the west to Gardiner Street and Mountjoy Square in the east. It is at the north end of O'Connell Street, where it forms the south side of Parnell Square.
Dame Street is a large thoroughfare in Dublin, Ireland.
The Screen Cinema was a three-screen cinema in Hawkins Street, Dublin, Ireland.
The Cashel Palace Hotel is a palladian mansion now operating as a 61 bedroom hotel and restaurant in Cashel, County Tipperary, Ireland.
Lyons Demesne, also Lyons Estate, is a country house and estate in Lyons Hill, County Kildare, Ireland. It is located near Newcastle Demesne and Celbridge, to the northeast of Tipperstown, 24.8 kilometres (15.4 mi) west of the city centre of Dublin. The Georgian house, completed in 1797 under architect Oliver Grace, is set in 600 acres (240 ha). Historically, Lyons was the setting of a notable duel between Daniel O'Connell and John D'Esterre. University College Dublin, Lyons Research Farm consists of a portion of the original Lyons Estate and is used by the School of Agriculture, Food Science and Veterinary Medicine for teaching and research activities.
Mary Street is a predominantly retail street in Dublin, Ireland on the northside of the city contiguous with Henry Street.
O'Connell Bridge House is a 12-storey office block in Dublin, Republic of Ireland.
The Royal Hibernian Hotel was a hotel on Dawson Street, Dublin, Ireland. Its history dates back to 1751, making it one of the country's first hotels, and it was popular with the wealthy in the 19th century. Its restaurants specialised in haute cuisine, which gradually declined in popularity in the 20th century, leading to the hotel's closure in 1982 and subsequent demolition and replacement with the Royal Hibernian Way and the offices of Davy Stockbrokers.
The Imperial Hotel was a hotel in Dublin's principal thoroughfare, Sackville Street, until it was destroyed during the Easter Rising of 1916. The building comprised Clerys department store on the lower floors and the Imperial Hotel on upper floors situated opposite the General Post Office and Nelson's Pillar.