Fire raged at the Oriel Hotel

70 years ago it happened: A fire broke out in the ground floor sittingroom of the Oriel Hotel on Laurence’s Street. A large proporation of the hotel was destroyed in the blaze.

The alarm was raised by Mr and Mrs Behan who lived in one of the bank houses across the street. Vincent Loughran, a visitor to the town, thinking it impossible to flee the blazing stairway, jumped from a 4th floor window, sustaining serious injuries.