Townhouse in heart of Limerick ready to welcome new tenants
Premises in heart of city given fresh lick of paint and is brought to lettings market
A PROMINENT townhouse in the heart of the city is ready to welcome new tenants, having undergone a revamp.
The unit at 44 O’Connell Street has been out of use for around four years after its former occupant, eye doctor Joseph O’Byrne retired.
This came after 40 years serving the city.
Now the unit has a new coat of red paint, and Gordon Kearney, Rooney Auctioneers has revealed work has been ongoing to improve the interior of the prime site.
“We’ve been doing a lot of work to the building, that’s why it’s been vacant. We’ve been doing a lot of window repair and electrical work. It’s still being actively marketed to let. We have a couple of people looking at it, but no deal has been done as of yet,” the auctioneer told Business Leader.
He added the building is now in “tip-top” condition, ready for a new tenant, probably for office use.
Forty-four O’Connell Street has for a long time had the illusion of being out-of-use.
That’s because Dr O’Byrne operated on an appointment-only basis.
The building was built around 1825.
According to research by historian Dr Martin Walsh, the first occupant of the Georgian townhouse is thought to have been John Fitzgerald Gabbett in 1827. His family lived in Strand House, where the Limerick Strand Hotel is now located. Number 44 has also been home to George Vickers Music Academy and Piano Forte Warerooms.
Later on from this, it was a saddlers shop and the home of the Electric and International Telegraph Company.
But it’s perhaps best known from its time as Stewart’s Chemist, which operated from around 1884 to 1966. The business was opened and run by Joseph Stewart, then his two sons Standish and Joseph.