Roger Herlihy: Imperial Hotel, South Mall, Commercial Buildings
Title
Roger Herlihy: Imperial Hotel, South Mall, Commercial Buildings
Subject
Built Heritage:
Description
Roger talks about the Imperial Hotel, South Mall, formerly the Commercial Buildings and the famous people who attended the hotel.
He explains that South Mall used to be a channel of the River Lee and that is why some buildings on the street have steps going up to their front doors. He tells a story about hotel manager Charles MacDowell. He talks about Franz Liszt’s visit to Cork in 1840, and his playing at Hallaran’s asylum. Slavery abolitionist Frederick Douglass spoke at the hotel and there is a plague there dedicated to him. Artist John Banvard demonstrated a long painted panorama known as The Three Mile Picture.
Other visitors to Cork included Charles Dickens, midget Tom Thumb, and courtesan Lola Montez. The hotel was also occupied by anti-Fenian forces, and later by pro-Treaty commander Michael Collins.
Interviewer and interviewee share two funny stories about the City Hall.
Note: this interview was conducted for the DVD If The Stones Could Speak.
He explains that South Mall used to be a channel of the River Lee and that is why some buildings on the street have steps going up to their front doors. He tells a story about hotel manager Charles MacDowell. He talks about Franz Liszt’s visit to Cork in 1840, and his playing at Hallaran’s asylum. Slavery abolitionist Frederick Douglass spoke at the hotel and there is a plague there dedicated to him. Artist John Banvard demonstrated a long painted panorama known as The Three Mile Picture.
Other visitors to Cork included Charles Dickens, midget Tom Thumb, and courtesan Lola Montez. The hotel was also occupied by anti-Fenian forces, and later by pro-Treaty commander Michael Collins.
Interviewer and interviewee share two funny stories about the City Hall.
Note: this interview was conducted for the DVD If The Stones Could Speak.
Date
12 May 2014
Identifier
CFP_SR00512_herlihy_2014
Coverage
Cork, Ireland, 1840s
Source
Cork Folklore Project Audio Archive
Rights
Cork Folklore Project
Language
English
Type
Sound
Format
1.wav File
Interviewee
Interviewer
Duration
42min 24sec
Location
Greenhills Court, South Douglas, Cork, Ireland
Original Format
.wav
Bit Rate/Frequency
24bit / 48kHz
Transcription
The following is a short extract from the interview transcript, copyright of the Cork Folklore Project. If you wish to access further archival material please contact CFP, folklorearchive@gmail.com
I mean the -- what we know as the entrance today to the Imperial Hotel on the South Mall was the Commercial Rooms, or the Commercial Building. Em actually the, the hotel itself was built at the rear of the building, the entrance was on Pembroke Street. The restaurant is there now today, the entrance -- but that would have been the entrance to the hotel and that didn’t open until maybe about five years I think after em, [clock strikes] five years after the Commerical Buildings itself so twas the eh -- twas part of the Commercial Buildings, the main entrance was on Pembroke Street but you could -- you could also go through em the South Mall entrance through the Commercial Rooms into it. And actually when you go into the [unintelligible voices in background 08:35] South Mall today you’ll see there’s a plaque, a circular plaque on the, on the floor mosaic, kind of a plaque with a Cork coat of arms and it has ‘The Commercial Buildings’ written around it you know. Em so as I said it wasn’t really then until oh -- I think twas into the 1940s by the time the Commercial Buildings actually moved out of the front so twas that long before the hotel took over actually the front part of, of the South Mall eh, that building there you know.
I mean the -- what we know as the entrance today to the Imperial Hotel on the South Mall was the Commercial Rooms, or the Commercial Building. Em actually the, the hotel itself was built at the rear of the building, the entrance was on Pembroke Street. The restaurant is there now today, the entrance -- but that would have been the entrance to the hotel and that didn’t open until maybe about five years I think after em, [clock strikes] five years after the Commerical Buildings itself so twas the eh -- twas part of the Commercial Buildings, the main entrance was on Pembroke Street but you could -- you could also go through em the South Mall entrance through the Commercial Rooms into it. And actually when you go into the [unintelligible voices in background 08:35] South Mall today you’ll see there’s a plaque, a circular plaque on the, on the floor mosaic, kind of a plaque with a Cork coat of arms and it has ‘The Commercial Buildings’ written around it you know. Em so as I said it wasn’t really then until oh -- I think twas into the 1940s by the time the Commercial Buildings actually moved out of the front so twas that long before the hotel took over actually the front part of, of the South Mall eh, that building there you know.
Citation
Cork Folklore Project, “Roger Herlihy: Imperial Hotel, South Mall, Commercial Buildings,” accessed April 18, 2024, https://corkfolklore.org/archivecatalolgue/document/172.