Great Southern Hotels was a chain of hotels owned by Irish semi-state airport operator

Aer Rianta DAA (styled "daa"), previously Dublin Airport Authority, is a commercial semi-state airport company in Ireland. The company owns and operates Dublin Airport and Cork Airport. Its other subsidiaries include the travel retail business Aer Rianta ...

; and eventually broken up in 2006. The chain was bought by Aer Rianta from fellow semi-state company

CIÉ Córas Iompair Éireann (''Irish Transport Company''), or CIÉ, is a statutory corporation of Ireland, answerable to the Irish Government and responsible for most public transport within the republic and jointly with its Northern Ireland counte ...

for IE£10m in 1990. CIÉ, as operators of the state's railways, had inherited the railway hotel chains of predecessor companies - primarily the

Great Southern & Western Railway The Great Southern and Western Railway (GS&WR) was an Irish gauge () railway company in Ireland from 1844 until 1924. The GS&WR grew by building lines and making a series of takeovers, until in the late 19th and early 20th centuries it was the l ...

, who had used the name Great Southern Hotel for their properties since the 19th Century, with the formalised Great Southern Hotels subsidiary being formed in 1963. CIÉ had developed further properties closer to roadways as private car transport increased; but closed other properties in the 1970s. Aer Rianta constructed hotels at its Dublin and Cork Airports, but did not extend the chain any further. It ran in to significant financial trouble in the latter era of CIÉ ownership, requiring a state bailout; and again before its dissolution by Aer Rianta At the time of its break-up, the firm owned 8 hotels - 3 at Aer Rianta owned airports and 5 in other locations. They also operated and part-owned the City Hotel in

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

Former Hotels

Open at time of closure

Cork Airport Cork Airport ( ga, Aerfort Chorcaí, ) is the second-largest of the three principal international airports in Ireland, after Dublin and ahead of Shannon. It is located in Cork City, south of the city centre in an area known as Farmers Cross ...

- Built in 1999. Sold to CG Hotels and originally operated as a

Park Inn Park Plaza Hotels & Resorts, formerly Park Plaza International Hotels, Inns and Resorts and commonly known as just Park Plaza, is a hotel chain which runs several hotel groups as franchises. It was established in 1986 as a company and acquired b ...

franchise. Now the Cork Airport Hotel *

- City Hotel, operated but only 25% owned *

Dublin Airport Dublin Airport (Irish language, Irish: ''Aerfort Bhaile Átha Cliath'') is an international airport serving Dublin, Ireland. It is operated by DAA (Irish company), DAA (formerly Dublin Airport Authority). The airport is located in Collinsto ...

- Built in 1998. Sold to CG Hotels and now operated as a

Radisson Blu Radisson Blu is an international chain of hotels operated by Radisson Hotels. With roots dating back to the 1960s, the Radisson Blu brand name came into existence in 2009 with a rebranding from Radisson SAS. Its hotels are found in major cities, ...

. *

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...

Eyre Square - Built 1855. Now the Hardiman Hotel. *

Corrib Great Southern - Built 1970. Sold but ceased to operate in 2007 Demolished in 2021 *

Killarney Killarney ( ; ga, Cill Airne , meaning 'church of sloes') is a town in County Kerry, southwestern Ireland. The town is on the northeastern shore of Lough Leane, part of Killarney National Park, and is home to St Mary's Cathedral, Ross Castl ...

- Built 1853. Now trading as the Great Southern Hotel again after being renamed to The Malton * Rosslare, Wexford - Built 1969, did not sell at time of original breakup and ceased to operate. Derelict. *

Shannon Airport Shannon Airport ( ga, Aerfort na Sionainne) is an international airport located in County Clare in the Republic of Ireland. It is adjacent to the Shannon Estuary and lies halfway between Ennis and Limerick. The airport is the third busiest ai ...

- Built 1963. Sold to CG Hotels and now a Park Inn *

Sneem Sneem () is a village situated on the Iveragh Peninsula (part of the Ring of Kerry), in County Kerry, in the southwest of Ireland. It lies on the estuary of the River Sneem. National route N70 runs through the town. While the 2016 census recor ...

- Parknasilla Hotel, built 1895, still operating

Disposed prior to closure

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

- Russel Court Hotel, built 1972, closed 1976 after repeated bombings. Now apartments. *

Bundoran Bundoran () is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. The town is located near the N15 road near Ballyshannon, and is the most southerly town in Donegal. The town is a tourist seaside resort, and tourism has been at the heart of the local economy s ...

- Built 1894. Sold 1976. Has reverted to its original name of the Great Northern Hotel after the Great Northern Railway who built it. Still trading. *

Kenmare Kenmare () is a small town in the south of County Kerry, Ireland. The name Kenmare is the anglicised form of ''Ceann Mara'', meaning "head of the sea", referring to the head of Kenmare Bay. Location Kenmare is located at the head of Kenmare ...

- Built 1897. Closed in the 1970s but has reopened as the Park Hotel *

Torc Hotel - Built 1968, closed in 2002. Has been demolished for a cinema * Mulranny - sold in 1976. Now the

Mulranny Park Hotel Mulranny ()—sometimes spelled as 'Mallaranny', 'Mulrany', 'Malaranny', 'Mullaranny', 'Mullranny' or 'Mulranny'—is a seaside village on the isthmus between Clew Bay and Blacksod Bay in County Mayo, Ireland. Mulranny, located at the foo ...

Sligo Sligo ( ; ga, Sligeach , meaning 'abounding in shells') is a coastal seaport and the county town of County Sligo, Ireland, within the western province of Connacht. With a population of approximately 20,000 in 2016, it is the List of urban areas ...

- built 1927. Sold in the 1970s, reopened as the Sligo Southern Hotel in 1983 and still trading

Unbuilt Proposals

* Donnybrook - 400 room hotel proposed on site of still operational

Dublin Bus Dublin Bus ( ga, Bus Átha Cliath) is a State-owned bus operator providing services in Dublin. By far the largest bus operator in the city, it carried 138 million passengers in 2019. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Córas Iompair Éireann. ...

garage

References

{{Reflist Defunct companies of the Republic of Ireland Defunct hotel chains