Plans lodged for €18.5m boutique hotel at former bank on Cork’s South Mall

Developer plans €18.5m transformation of vacant South Mall bank into boutique hotel with bar, restaurant, and added storeys

Former National Irish Bank branch, which is set to become a boutique hotel. Picture: Larry Cummins

Plans to renovate a former Cork city bank into a hotel have been submitted to Cork City Council.

Irish hotelier Shay Livingstone is seeking planning permission, through his company Cadcove Holdings Limited, to redevelop the former National Irish Bank building at No 71 South Mall into a 58-bedroom hotel.

Mr Livingstone, who previously ran the Rochestown Park Hotel, outlined proposals for the boutique hotel  to Cork City Council in December, including details of the €18.5m development, which he intends to name The Joshua after his son.

The plans include a ground-floor bar, restaurant, and café, along with the construction of two additional storeys on the former bank premises.

The company is also seeking to demolish auxiliary buildings to the rear of the main structure, fronting Morgan Street, as well as to construct a glazed link bridge over five floors across an open atrium.

The proposal provides for the preservation and repair of the limestone elevation on South Mall, as well as the addition of a customer entrance and service entrance on Morgan Street.

Morgan Street, Cork City

The development also includes public realm improvements, ancillary signage, and all associated site development works.

Planning permission for a hotel on the South Mall site was previously granted in 2019 to former owners but has since lapsed, with a new application now submitted to City Hall.

Mr Livingstone acquired the building in 2023 for more than €3m from hoteliers and investors Ray Byrne and Eoin Doyle, who had planned to redevelop it themselves but later sold it.

The building has been vacant since 2012, when Danske Bank/National Irish Bank closed its 27 Irish branches.

Speaking to the Irish Examiner in December, Mr Livingstone said that the hotel will have “a five-star feel," adding that he intends to use all Irish companies for the project.

Construction is expected to begin in the first half of 2026.

Cork City Council is due to make a decision on the application by May 5, 2026.