Work starts on €30m project to rebuild landmark Cork city hotel 

The riverside site was declared derelict three years ago after lying vacant for almost 15 years

Demolition works at Moore's hotel on Morrisons Quay, Cork. 

Work has started on the near €30m redevelopment of the former Moore’s Hotel site in Cork — a riverside site which was declared derelict three years ago after lying vacant for almost 15 years.

Senior city officials visited the site on Morrison’s Quay yesterday where main contractors, the Elliot Group, are poised to start structural demolition before embarking on the construction of a new four-to-six storey mixed-use development that will include a Premier Inn hotel and three office blocks.

Officials said this proves the engagement with the owners of derelict sites can deliver results.

The old bar in Moore's hotel. 

The buildings at number 11, 12, and 13 are all protected structures and are being retained and refurbished for re-use as office space.

The 187-bed hotel will be built around and to the rear of the refurbished buildings, with a courtyard at the centre, and with additional ground floor office space, located on Catherine St. 

There is no basement and no plans for a car park.

The demolition phase should be done by the end of November, with piling works and the erection of a tower crane due to take place in December.

The downstairs interior. 

The project is due for completion and ready for fit-out by summer 2023, in the hope that the hotel will be ready for occupation by Christmas.

The Elliot Group has just built the first Premier Inn in the Republic, in Dublin, and this new Cork hotel will be its second here as part of its ambitious plans to deliver 2,500 bedrooms across the country.

Gary O’Sullivan, construction director with the Elliot Group, which is delivering the project for the Greenleaf Group and Warren Private, said they were delighted to be part of the regeneration of this part of the city centre.

He said the buildings on site are in poor repair but they are working with experts to conserve, retain and restore as much of the original fabric as possible.

“We are dealing with the traditional methods, with lime mortar etc, to refurbish the buildings,” he said.

“There are a lot of structural repairs to do inside the buildings. There has been a lot of water ingress over the years.

A first-floor bedroom in Moore's hotel. 

“And there are a lot of protected structures inside the building, the main structure of the roof, the staircase but we are working with JCA Architects and the city planners to ensure we retain these features of the building and put them back together as they were intended originally, when they were built.” 

Morrison’s Island is one of the most flood-prone areas in the city, and floods during very high tide and storm surge events.

Among the conditions attached to the grant of planning was the need for demountable flood barriers.

The city council has planning permission for a major public realm upgrade, which includes blended flood defences, along the quays.

The project was the subject of a legal challenge by Save Cork City but last July, it failed to get High Court orders overturning An Bord Pleanála’s permission for the project.

The city council is still working on the detailed design work and is expected to be in a position to publish tenders for contractors before the end of the year.

According to a detailed architectural heritage impact assessment report by JCA Architects, submitted as part of the planning application by Quakeside Ltd last year, Morrisons Island was noted as a residential area for members of the legal and medical professions from the first half of the 19th century.

Downstairs in Moore's hotel. 

Lodgings in number 13 were advertised in the Cork Constitution in 1876 and a Mrs WH Moore had established a French school there by 1877.

A hotel is first listed on Morrisson‘s Island in 1893, with number 13 under the ownership of a William H Moore.

The 1901 census identifies the house numbers of the hotel as 12, 13 and 14 with the property listed as a hotel and the head of the household Catherine H Moore, hotel proprietress.

Over the years, the building was also used as a garda station and by the Cork School of Music before the hotel ceased trading in 2005.

The properties at number 4 and 5 Fr Mathew St, a few hundred yards east of the former Moore’s Hotel site, were added to the city’s derelict sites register in April.

They are both linked to a company called Tumblegate Ltd, with an address at the South Link Park, Frankfield, Cork, and they have a market value of €1.5m.