LISMORE HOUSE HOTEL PREPARING TO REOPEN

Lismore House Hotel is preparing to open its doors once again, much to the delight of locals in the west Waterford heritage town. Originally built in 1797 by the Duke of Devonshire, the hotel is supposedly Ireland’s oldest purpose-built hotel and is now on the way to a welcome reopening.

It was announced online last Friday, July 9th that the hotel is undergoing a ‘major refurbishment’ over the next few months and is set to reopen in mid-November 2021.

‘And so the next chapter begins’ the post read, accompanied by an image of an auctioneer’s sign with ‘sold’ marked on it.

News of the development was widely welcomed, as one local claimed to be ‘over the moon’, while another wished ‘luck and success to all concerned’.

POTENTIAL

It is understood that the hotel went up for sale in November 2017 with a €1.5 million price tag, having closed its doors the previous April. At the time, the hotel was part of a dossier of properties that were the subject of a legal dispute between AIB and the Nolan family - the owners of a transport-and-haulage business with substantial hotel investments - over accrued debts of €23 million.

Advertisements for the 29-bedroom property boasted substantial conference and banqueting facilities with a capacity for 200 delegates, as well as a bar and restaurant area.

The building was described as a landmark one in a prominent position at the heart of the historic town of Lismore. While the hotel was not trading at the time, it was said to be in ‘readyto-go’ condition.

“There is an obvious severe shortage of bedroom accommodation particularly in the West Waterford area, with many tourists now having to secure accommodation in the neighbouring towns,” the advert at the time read.