Profits surge at Louis Fitzgerald group, owner of Cork's Imperial Hotel 

The pub, restaurant, and hotel group also owns the likes of Kehoe's and the Stag's Head in Dublin

Mark Harnedy, the Imperial Hotel, Marguerite O’Connor, the Songstress, Michael Mullins on Trumpet, Abigail Cotter on Saxophone,  and Ceazary Tomaszewski on Trombone at the Imperial Hotel ahead of the Guinness Jazz Festival in Cork last autumn. The hotel is part of the Louis Fitzgerald Group. Picture:  Darragh Kane

Pre-tax profits at the main firm behind the Louis Fitzgerald hospitality group and owner of the Imperial Hotel in Cork city last year increased by 37% to €28.39m.

The pub, restaurant and hotel group owns the likes of Kehoe's and the Stag's Head in Dublin and new accounts filed by the group’s holding company, Cregagh Investment Company UC show that the business's profits rose as revenues declined by 1% from €107.02m to €105.94m in the 12 months to the end of June last.

One of Cregagh’s subsidiaries is The Imperial Hotel (Cork) Ltd after the Fitzgeralds purchased the renowned four star historic hotel for a reported €25m in 2023 from the Flynn Group.

The directors for Cregagh state that the group today "is in a strong financial position” and “management aims to increase the profitability of the company through increasing turnover and management of its operating costs”.

The pre-tax profits of €28.39m last year follow pre-tax profits of €20.62m in the prior year.

The scale of the Fitzgerald operation in 2025 comes 57 years after a 23 year old Louis Fitzgerald moved from Tipperary to Dublin to purchase his first pub on Dublin’s Townsend Street which had then weekly revenues of £80 quickly rising to £560 per week.

The Cregagh directors state that as the group operates in the hospitality sector, sales are exposed to changes in  economic conditions in Ireland and consequently a possible decrease in turnover. However, the group said it operates in a wide variety of locations thus mitigating the risk.

The business today is very much a family affair with seven members of the Fitzgerald family on the board - Louis, Helen, Edward, Louise, Barry, Louis Jnr, and Niamh.

Profits were boosted last year by a non-cash gain of €3.16m concerning a revaluation on investment properties.

The group’s businesses include well known Dublin City centre pubs, Stag’s Head, Kehoes, Bruxelles, The Gin Palace, Grand Central and Quays Temple Bar.

The group also operates An Poitin Stil, The Laurels, Palmerstown House, The Roost, Annie May’s, Carroll’s, The Arlington Hotel and The Louis Fitzgerald Hotel.

Numbers employed by the business decreased by 11 from 1,249 to 1,238 as staff costs dipped from €33.59m to €33.25m.