The oldest purpose built hotel in Ireland has finally been sold after lying idle since April 2017.
The news has been warmly welcomed by the community in Lismore who have felt the negative effects of the reduced accommodation availability in the west Waterford town since the hotel closed.
Lismore Hotel was built by the Duke of Devonshire in 1797 as a purpose built hotel to accommodate his invited guests. It was completely refurbished in 2006 and is noted to be in ‘almost ready to go condition’.
The hotel is in a very central location and has a function room which can cater for 200 people. There are 29 bedrooms and the premises has restaurant and bar facilities, previously named The Malt Bar and Restaurant.
In the past, the hotel also had nightclub facilities and many locals will recall nights out spent in JR’s.
It is unclear whether the new owners will reopen the nightclub, which suffered from licensing issues and noise disturbance complaints when it was reopened as Club V approximately 10 years ago.
David Reynolds of Sherry Fitzgerald Reynolds was the auctioneer looking after the sale, with a price tag of €1.5 million when it first went on the market back in November 2017.
The heritage town is famous across Ireland and indeed, across the world, thanks to Lismore Castle and Gardens, as well as many other historical points of interest.
