Hotel History

Parnell Square is the earliest of Dublin’s Georgian Squares and provided a precedent for later urban spaces in the city. No. 7 Parnell Square East was built under one of the first leases granted on the east side of the square. It was a typical brick fronted Georgian house with stairs to the side at the rear, and front and back parlours. Map evidence shows that it had been extended to the back, along the west boundary, by the middle of the nineteenth century. It was altered and further extended by E.H. Carson in 1874 but was in use as a hotel by 1852. 

In 1748 Bartholemew Mosse leased four acres, at the northeast corner of Sackville Mall, now O’Connell Street on which he built the Rotunda Hospital, which was the first charitable maternity hospital of its kind in the British Isles. 

Parnell Square East was the first to be developed following the construction of Cavendish Street by Luke Gardiner. The initial plot widths varied in order to establish what was the most suitable for sale. Early houses were over fifty feet in front, similar to the houses on Sackville Mall. Plan form varied with the plot widths. No 7 was among the earliest leases and was granted to Laughlin Daly, a barrister, in 1753. The site was thirty-four feet in front. The house was three-bay with a distinctive bowed end to the back, evident on the earliest maps, overlooking the back garden with a rear mews opening onto Stable Lane. There are also historic documents pointing to another prestigious inhabitant, Mr Henry J Baldwin QC in 1845.   

Thom’s directory from 1852 records that the building at No. 7 was then known as the Hotel St. George and was run by Miss K. Fennessey, valued at £110. The property extended into No.8. Messenger Services are noted at 7 Rutland Place West. The lane was dominated by garages and car repair workshops. 

We think the name came from the townland or Borough to the east side of the square being know as “St George” which extended down to Gardiner and Parnell Streets.  

The West side was know as “St Marys” 

The Census of Ireland in taken in 1911 records shows that No. 7 was still in use as a hotel but run by another lady, Margaret Agnes Conarchy who had renamed the property as Conarchy’s Hotel. Her husband William is noted as a commercial traveller and tobacco dealer. On the night of the census return there were four sons and two daughters in the house, with four borders and four servants. The building is noted as a first-class house of twenty-five rooms with ten windows in front. No coach-houses or outbuildings are recorded. The Conarchys were strongly opposed to the renaming of Rutland Square to Parnell Square but failed in their attempt to stop the renaming.   

Archives have uncovered a famous photo of King George V and Queen Mary passing the outside of the property in July 1911.   

Research is still ongoing but we will keep the site updated as we uncover more interesting facts.