The Committee of Merchants of Cork commissions young architect Sir Thomas Deane to design & build the Commerical Rooms on South Mall, the building laster becomes the core of The Imperial Hotel

The Commercial Rooms are extended along Pembroke Street to serve as a hotel & coach yard for merchants and traveller, the beginnings of The Imperial Hotel proper.

The first paying guests arrive at the newly created hotel.

The Imperial Hotel hosts notable figures during the 19th century, including:

• Novelists Charles Dickens, Sir Walter Scoot, William Makepeace Thackeray
• Irish Painter Daniel Maclise
• Fr. Theobald Mathew and temperance movement visitors

A celebrated banquet is held in the Clarence Room with prominent guests like mathematician Sir William Rowan Hamilton, astronomer the Earl of Rosse, transport pioneer Charles Bianconi, and nationalist writer Thomas Davis

Frederick Douglass, born in Maryland, was an escaped slave who devoted his life to the abolition of slavery. When he visited Cork City Frederick Douglass gave a speech at The Imperial Hotel on 23rd October 1845, named ‘American Prejudice Against Colour’, to a packed room of local dignitaries and concerned parties. A plaque commemorating his stay was unveiled at The Imperial Hotel in the year 2012, and in 2023 The Frederick Douglass Lounge was opened in his honour.

Dickens visits Ireland and stays at The Imperial Hotel during his book tour, a sign of its prestige during this era.

Meeting held at The Imperial Hotel helped establish one of Cork’s oldest charitable organisations, providing affordable meals during times of the famine.

After negotiating the Irish Free State Treaty, revolutionary leader Michael Collins spends his last night at The Imperial Hotel before departing for West Cork, where he was later killed in an ambush.

In August 2022, the hotel marked the centenary of Michael Collins death with a programme of commemorative events including the formal opening of The Michael Collins Suite (formally room 115) and the unveiling of a new portrait of Collins by Ennis artist Mick O’Dea.

Price Rainier III and Princess Grace (Grace Kelly) of Monaco stays at The Imperial Hotel with their children during a royal visit to Ireland. The state visit by the royal family in the Summer of ‘61 was undoubtedly the grandest affair and saw thousands
flock to the South Mall to catch a glimpse, particularly of Oscar-winning actress turned Her Serene Highness Grace Kelly, who remains to this day a major icon of
screen and style.

The Imperial Hotel is the location of the first performance by the band Taste, which included famed musician Rory Gallagher, a cultural milestone in Cork’s music history.

Sunday gatherings in the hotel bar, nicknamed ‘Bangladesh’, provided a safe inclusive space

Irish family owned Flynn Hotel Group purchases The Imperial Hotel and undertakes significant renovation & investment

The Imperial Hotel celebrates its 200th anniversary. This beautiful four star property has long been regarded by many as the ‘Grand Dame’ of Cork city.

The Imperial Hotel is acquired by the Louis Fitzgerald Group, makring a new chapter under another Irish hospitality family