Plaza

MALDRON HOTEL PARNELL SQUARE – CORNER OF OF DORSET STREET AND GRANBY ROW

The full name of the hotel implies that it is on Parnell Square but I would describe the location as Granby Row or Dorset Street.

There was once a cinema at this location and when I was young it was known as the Plaza and my parents would not allow me to visit as it was what they described as “rough”.

Granby Row has seen better days. There was the Waxie Dargle, a well known pub, which has disappeared. The old Wax Museum, located at the corner, closed in 2005 and the site was redeveloped as the Maldron Hotel Parnell Square. In 2009 The museum was re-established at Fosters Place and more recently relocated to the Lafayette Building Westmoreland Street.

At the turn of the century the Granby Laundry operated on Granby Lane, under the direction of Catherine O’Neill. By the 1960s Granby Row was the home of the Plaza Cinema. In 1962 the Kingsway Ballroom was located in Granby Lane, while Freedman, a Rabbit Skin Merchant, operated from Granby Place. The Granby Bar was listed as being a pub in various forms – Wine and spirit Merchant, Vintners etc. – from the 1850s until 2002.

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