The History of Our Address
ARCHITECTURE
This beautiful nineteenth-century house retains much of its original fabric including its attractive windows. It is a very large example of is a five-bay two-storey which gives it an air of simple grandeur. The building was originally a country house in circa 1830 and is now in use as a unique and well-designed meetings and event space which forms part of The Address Citywest. The walls are roughcast rendered with a smooth rendered base course, while windows are timber sash. The country house has a pitched slate roof with smooth rendered chimney stack to gables with a gable-ended two-storey wing to south. The entrance was once set into a conservatory extension to south-east elevation, however this has been removed to restore the building to its original grandeur. The boundary consists of limestone rubble wall with square-plan rubble pier.
HISTORY
Tenor Josef Locke
The Lodge @ Citywest was once home to Josef Locke, a famous Irish Tenor. Born in the City of Derry as Joseph McLaughlin in 1917 he is remembered both as a talented tenor and a “larger-than-life character”.
Before show business he worked for a time in the RUC where he earned the nickname “The Singing Bobby”. He went on to become one of the highest-paid entertainers in Britain commanding fees of up to £2,000 per week.
Locke got his first break in 1943 playing the role of Gaylord in a performance of Showboat at the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin.
The combination of his mighty voice, impressive physique and sense of humour were irresistible to many female fans who packed out venues to hear trademark songs “Blaze Away”, “How Could You Buy Killarney “and “The Last Goodbye”.
Locke continued on a lower key throughout the 1970’s and 1980’s. In 1992 a movie was released that was loosely based on his life “Hear My Song”.
Locke appeared on the Late Late show in 1984 where he summarised his time as a performer as “bloody marvellous”.
Josef Locke passed away in October 1999.
BECOMING THE ADDRESS
The Hotel and the Lodge were bought in 2014 by the McGettigan family who brought with them a long family History of Hotel management today it is owned and operated by Brian and Ciara McGettigan.
Seeing the potential for an upscale four-star deluxe hotel in the area they immediately set about a complete refurbishment that earned the hotel four stars in May 2015.
In November 2015 after an extension to The Lodge, they opened the now award winning McGettigans Cookhouse and a new large event space upstairs.
In 2019 they tastefully curated meeting and events spaces from the original Georgian rooms in The Lodge in sympathy with the style and heritage of the building.
In 2020 the Hotel got a further refurbishment with the addition of an executive “Club Floor” and Club Lounge which are a signature amenity of The Address Collective.
The Hotel was rebranded as “The Address Citywest”, a member of The Address Collective Hotel Group which launched in August 2020 comprising of three luxury four-star Hotels across Dublin and Cork. Each Hotel delivers the same high level of accommodation, food and beverage services but are unique in their character and work very closely with local suppliers to deliver a very local experience for our guests.
Sources: National inventory of architectural heritage
The Irish Times: Sat, Oct 16, 1999