End of an era as legendary Warwick Hotel is razed

It played host to top national and international music acts; it was a hub for Galway’s artistic community; it was a Ballroom of Romance; it was a legendary student haunt but last week it was the end of an era when the iconic Warwick Hotel was flattened to the ground.

Sinead O’Connor, currently reviving her career, played there; so too did Van Morrison and Derry band, the Undertones.

It was the venue for sold-out concerts featuring the likes of Coldplay and Snow Patrol along with 1980s legends such as New Order, The Housemartins and the late Kirsty MacColl. UK singer David Gray made his first Galway appearance there, long before he went on to enjoy greater fame and fortune – on that occasion, the hall did not sell out.

The Saw Doctors regularly described the Warwick as their spiritual home while the venue was synonymous with the Galway Arts Festival for more than three decades. The former hotel closed its doors back in 2010, and planning permission has been granted for a 60-bed nursing home on the site. Work is expected to commence on this €6.7 million development over the coming weeks.

Former Arts Festival Director and founder Ollie Jennings said that the hotel played a huge part in developing the festival over the years and was “a magnet” for acts that played in Leisureland, who would converge on the Warwick in the aftermath of their concerts.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.

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