New design team chosen for Portlaoise derelict hotel housing plan

Laois County Council has confirmed progress in the expensive job of replacing a derelict Portlaoise Main Street hotel with social housing.

The ruined county hotel, vacant over 25 years was damaged by fire and is now boarded up with a mural.

While the front facade of the stone three storey hotel is a protected architectural structure, it is deemed by the council as being too difficult to renovate as the site has no rear access, so full demolition is planned.

An initial plan by Clúid housing to carry out a project to build 10 small apartments, fell apart when they pulled out of the plan over its high cost just before demolition time in summer 2025.  Back in 2022, the cost had been estimated at over €7 million.

Laois County Council bought the property eight years ago after a long negotiation with its absent owner.

After Clúid dropped out in 2025, the council CEO Michael Rainey said they would drive the project on.

This March 2026, Director of Services Donal Brennan gave the latest progress at their monthly meeting.

"A design team has been selected and will be appointed in the next fortnight on the county hotel," he said.

Mr Brennan added that there will be "a shorter design process" this time, lasting four to six months. He said that the proposal will then go to the Department of Housing for funding approval.

Laois County Council bought the derelict building in 2018 with the aim to refurbish it, paying some €155,000. See photos of the interior and Clúid's plans for the apartment block here. 

The imposing stone building has a fascinating history. It dates from 1810, converted to a hotel in 1870 and later extended. An architectural report carried out recently found that later works in the 1950s and 1980s destroyed "any items of significance such as internal moldings, fire places, ceilings, wall decoration, original doors and windows,".

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Its first owner was Church of Ireland Rev. John T. Moore, a Governor and Director of the Maryborough District Lunatic Asylum. The property passed to Patrick Doran in 1870 who later went on to be involved in the Irish Republican Brotherhood and the Land League, and possibly the Easter Rising. The building was converted for use as a Hotel and became known as the Leinster Hotel. 

It changed hands several times and by 1976 it also boasted an off-licence and gift shop. In 1982 it was taken over again and advertised as the No. 1 Spot for Entertainment in the Midlands, hosting Eddie's Disco Roadshow and the World Disco Dancing Championship 1985 Irish Finals. There was a Hairdressers on the second floor.