Shelbourne Hotel
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Shelbourne Hotel is a famous hotel situated in a landmark building on the north side of St Stephen's Green. The hotel has 255 rooms in total and has just reopened after undergoing a substantial refurbishment.
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[edit] History
The Shelbourne Hotel was founded in 1824 by Tipperaryman Martin Burke , when he acquired three adjoining townhouses overlooking Dublin's beautiful St Stephen's Green - Europe's largest garden square. Burke named his grand new hotel The Shelbourne, after William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne.
John McCurdy designed the hotel and the studio of M. M. Barbezet of Paris cast the four external statues, two Nubian Princesses and their shackled slave girls.
[edit] Trivia
- In the early 1900s, Alois Hitler, Jr - the half brother of Adolf Hitler worked in the hotel while in Dublin.
- In 1922, the hotel played a very important part in the founding of the Irish nation when the Irish Constitution was drafted in room 112, now known as The Constitution Room. [1]
- In August 1965, in room 256 (some reports state room 526), 'psychic' Sybil Leek allegedly contacted the ghost of one 'Mary Masters'. Mary claimed to have died in 1791 due to cholera. Apparently Leek's mother's maiden name was also Masters, and a row of Georgian houses was demolished to build the hotel, back in 1824. [2]
