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In the second of two articles looking at the two Great Northern Hotels that were built in the local area, we explore the history of the Great Northern Hotel in Rostrevor.
Built on the site of the Old Quay Hotel to designs of local architect William James Watson and originally known as the Mourne Hotel, the Great Northern Hotel was bought by the Great Northern Railway Company (G.N.R.C) in the late 1800s along with the neighbouring Woodside Hotel and restaurant. It was Rostrevor’s largest hotel.
The hotel was designed with a frontage of 150ft facing towards Carlingford Lough and sat at the foot of Slieve Ban. The centre portion was designed to be one storey higher than the wing portions, to artistically break the skyline. Some other notable distinctive features of the hotel included ornamental balconies, dormer windows and a vestibule separated from the entrance hall by an ornamental mahogany screen. The rest of the internal woodwork was made of pitch pine and the entrance hall and ground floor passages were covered with encaustic tiles. However, it could be argued that the most striking features were the long and multi-arched corridors that ran from end to end of the building on each storey.
After six months of extensive structural renovations and a remodelling of the sanitary arrangements (under the eye of Mr. J. Finlay Peddie, a sanitary expert and engineer) the hotel reopened in 1899 to visitors. Mr. and Mrs. H. Llewellyn Booth were the managers and Mr Malar was the chef.
Focusing on attracting visitors, the hotel highlighted its modern new baths, the ample stabling and cycling accommodation, and the accessibility to the Mourne Mountains. They also advertised how close the hotel was to local golf courses and of the trout fishing opportunities nearby. Guests were also invited to enjoy the skating rink that was located next to the Woodside Hotel. The 2,000-capacity rink was built by the 3rd Earl of Kilmorey and had been repaired and re-roofed by Mr. Mahood with funding from the G.N.R.C. The rink also served as a dance hall with skating became less popular and hosted several events for visitors during rainy days. In December 1903, the rink and the adjoining public bar (known as the Rink Bar) were destroyed in a fire.
Over the decades the Great Northern Hotel became one of the most iconic in south Down and was purchased in 1971 by Sir William Hastings (founder of Hastings Hotels) along with five other former railway hotels in Northern Ireland from the Ulster Transport Authority. The Great Northern Hotel had been renamed the Rostrevor Hotel and was destroyed by a firebomb on the night of Friday 29th December 1977. It never reopened.
The Museum is currently offering free tours of the main exhibition galleries on Wednesdays at 2.00 pm. These must be booked in advance by calling our Education Officer at 0330 137 4422.
Newry and Mourne Museum is open Tuesday – Saturday 10.00 am – 4.30 pm. Please call 0330 137 4422 or email museums@nmandd.org for further information.
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