The Shannon and Shamrock
Hotel was established in 1866.Its first
licensee was T Mornane. An auction on 7 September 1867 advertised that a good
tenant occupied the hotel.Architects
Hennessy and Lalor designed additions in 1871. At a later auction on 6 July 1874, the proprietor
relinquished the business, along with furniture and stock, but the Mornane family remained publicans until 1877. The Rate
Books of 1887 list a four-roomed timber building, but the following year it was
obviously rebuilt by then-owner Patrick Mornane. It
is described as a twelve-room brick building and is evidently this building
that has remained.A freestanding,
narrow, three storeyed structure, it is visually distinctive for its height
amongst a street, which is otherwise relatively low rise.The building has also retained its rendered
nameplate ‘The Shamrock’ and its motif of a shamrock.It is atypical of Melbourne hotel design in
the 1880s, largely because the use of red brick and render mouldings across the
façade recall Victorian architecture.
Bob Powell and his wife Anastasia, who would later
take over the Railway Hotel, ran the Shannon and Shamrock
from 1908 until it was de-licensed and closed on 31 December 1926.Powell was known to be stringent about the quality of the pipes and the
hotel had an excellent reputation for quality beer.In 2003, it is the site of Spider Eye Web Design
Studio.
