1853 – Great Southern Hotel, Galway
Architect: John Skipton Mulvany
Begun 1851, for Midland Great Western Railway Co., and designed by J. S. Mulvany who also designed Ceannt Station to which it is attached.
Great Southern Hotels
In an effort to encourage tourism the Killarney Junction Railway, which was operated by the GS&WR, opened a hotel next to Killarney station. This was in 1854, which made it the first railway-owned hotel in Ireland. In the following years the GS&WR established further hotels in County Kerry at Caragh Lake, Kenmare, Parknasilla and Waterville. The company also owned small commercial hotels at Limerick Junction and near its stations in Dublin and Cork.
In 1925 the hotels became part of Great Southern Hotels, a subsidiary of Great Southern Railways, later part of CIE. CIE sold the chain to Aer Rianta who closed a few of the lossmaking hotels, and ran the others for some years. The Great Southern Hotels Group was dissolved in 2006, when its hotels were sold off separately to private investors.
1854 – Great Southern Hotel, Killarney, Co. Kerry
Architect: Frederick Darley
Constructed after an architectural competition in 1852, that was won by William Atkins with a premium also awards to Richard Brash.
1890s – Former Great Southern Hotel, Caragh Lake, Killorglin, Co. Kerry
Served by a small station by the Great Southern Railways Company, one of the four original stations opened by the company.
1894 – Great Southern Hotel, Kenmare, Co. Kerry
Architect: J.F. Fuller
Purpose built hotel constructed for the Great Southern Railways Company as part of their scheme to bring tourists to the Kerry area via their railway routes.
1894 – Great Southern Hotel, Parknasilla, Co. Kerry
Architect: J.F. Fuller
Originally started out as Parknasilla House after the Bland family built Derryquin Castle on the grounds as a new resience.
1894 – Great Southern Hotel, Waterville, Co. Kerry
Later much extended from its original 1894 appearance. Architect unknown for the alterations by the railway company in 1894,
1897 – Great Southern Hotel, Mulranny, Co. Mayo
Architect: T.N. Deane & Son
Constructed between 1895 and 1897 by the Midland & Great Western Railway, at Mulranny,
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