History

250 years in the making, The Sandymount Hotel is a story made up of intriguing chapters. 

In 1955, a young couple from Northern Ireland – George and Rosaleen Loughran – set up a small B&B on Dublin’s Herbert Road. Every member of the family helped out with the new venture to make it a success – even if that meant all squashing into one bedroom to provide more accommodation for guests. During the decades that followed, the family gradually acquired adjoining properties and eventually the business expanded to become the luxury 4-star hotel we see today. Over 70 years since they welcomed their first paying guests, The Loughran family is still at the helm of the long-standing Ballsbridge business, making The Sandymount Hotel Dublin’s oldest and largest independent, family-run hotel.

However, the building’s rich history stretches back much further than the 20th century and has more twists and turns than a game of Monopoly…

1769-1860: THE OLD HAIG DISTILLERY

The distillery founded by Robert Haig of the famous Scotch Whiskey family was powered by a sluice wheel on the river Dodder. Notorious for his conflicts with Revenue authorities – rumours told of excise officers who mysteriously “disappeared” – Haig eventually succumbed. A local builder purchased the buildings including a great quantity of copper tubing and machinery.

In 1866, bricks from the old distillery were used to construct Herbert Road’s Victorian terrace of houses that make up the hotel today.

1866 – mid 1900s: ARISTOCRACY

In the late 19th century, Dublin’s aristocracy moved to the suburbs, abandoning large inner-city houses to become tenements. Thus Herbert Road became home to Dublin’s wealthy class. Residents included the family of Sir Henry Robinson (Vice President of the Irish Local Government Board 1879-1891), and their domestic servant, Mary Whitty. In the years following the establishment of the Irish Free State, many of these families left for the UK. 

1872: LANSDOWNE ROAD (AVIVA) STADIUM

Lansdowne Road Stadium, named in tribute to the third Marquess of Lansdowne, is the oldest international sporting venue in the world. In 1875 Ireland met England in the first ever athletics international. In 1878 England beat Ireland in the first rugby international in the grounds. In 2007 the dreary old edifice was demolished to be replaced in 2010 with the magnificent Aviva Stadium.

1955: MOUNT HERBERT HOTEL

It is here that George and Rosaleen Loughran come into the picture. In May 1955, the plucky young couple from Northern Ireland were living in a bedsit on Tritonville Road.  George had a small garage servicing cars at the rear of one of the big houses on Lansdowne Road.  Rosaleen was at home with their two-year-old daughter, Pat, while heavily pregnant with their second child, John. Due to their mutual Northern Ireland connection, the couple’s next door neighbour Michael O’Hare was able to secure a loan for the Loughrans to purchase No. 7 Herbert Road. George immediately started work on the house, adapting it as a humble bed and breakfast.

1958-1993: THE GROWTH OF THE SANDYMOUNT HOTEL

Three years later, business was proving to be brisk and demand for additional bedrooms was strong so George and Rosaleen purchased the adjoining semi-detached property, 9 Herbert Road. 

In 1962, the property on the opposite side (number 5) became available when the family of dentist Gerry Fitzgerald moved house. This facilitated the extension of the kitchens, and the six members of the Loughran family all moved into a single bedroom at ground floor level.

In 1966, 11 Herbert Road was purchased and subdivided into the main house and basement. This provided staff with live-in accommodation on the ground floor, and the building of a 40-bedroom extension, bringing total accommodation to 50 bedrooms.

The decision was also taken at this time not to continue with the bar and focus on bedrooms which were more profitable.  Ireland at that time had an ethos of alcohol abstention and because the Mount Herbert did not have a public bar, it earned the reputation of a “temperance hotel” as many believed the decision was for moral or religious reasons rather than steered by the business’ bottom line.

In 1970, the acquisition of 13 Herbert Road provided space for even more bedrooms as well as a car park at the rear of the hotel.

1982-1993: THE FINAL PIECES OF THE PUZZLE

In 1982, George and Rosaleen’s eldest son John bought number 17 Herbert Road to open his own accountancy firm Cunningham, Loughran, Marks & Co. with two school friends. (He was to sell his share of the practice in the early 1990’s to join his younger brother, Paul, in the hotel).

In 1988, ownership of the hotel transferred to John who was still a chartered accountant and Paul, who had attended Hotel School. That same year the business acquired 15 Herbert Road – the missing link between number 17 and the hotel. It took over a year of protracted and delicate negotiations to acquire the entire property and this facilitated the building of a modern bedroom block to the rear, bringing the total number of bedrooms to 170.

Number 3 Herbert Road was the final piece of the puzzle and, in 1993 the adjoining semi-detached property to 5 Herbert Road was put up for auction. There were no bids and a local neighbour purchased it immediately afterwards. John Loughran later approached the purchaser, paying a premium to acquire ownership.

1999: A CHANGE OF OWNERSHIP

In 1999, John Loughran purchased his younger brother’s share and became sole owner of the business, allowing Paul to follow his passion for property development.

And what of the all-important bar? Well, as consumer demands changed, in 1999 there was a small dispense bar, then in 2004, the full bar opened, destined to become the local for hundreds of rugby fans.

2006: THE THIRD GENERATION

Grandson of the original owners, Gerard Loughran (named after his grandfather, George), started in the hotel in 2006. He has been responsible for recent modernisation and development.

2007: GEORGE & ROSALEEN’S LATER YEARS

When they stepped back from running the hotel in the 1980s, George and Rosaleen built a private penthouse apartment where they continued to live the rest of their lives. Following the deaths of Rosaleen in 2004, and George in 2007, the penthouse was assimilated into the hotel providing 11 additional bedrooms. 

2011: THE SANDYMOUNT HOTEL

In 2011, the family decided to rebrand as Sandymount Hotel, to give the hotel a unique identity and separate it from the Herbert Park Hotel whose opening in Ballsbridge a few years earlier had caused some confusion for guests (not to mention the local taxi drivers!).  At this time, the new Aviva Stadium was under construction and John commissioned the “Sandymount Lineout” bronze rugby sculpture for the front of the hotel, thus linking it closely with the hotel’s new neighbouring stadium.

2025: A CONTINUING LOUGHRAN TRADITION

70 years on from his grandparents acquiring that very first Herbert Road property, Gerard Loughran proudly continues their legacy. The hotel is now in the same ownership longer than any other property in Dublin.