The Imperial Hotel is one of Castlebar's best-known landmarks that overlooks the beautiful Mall in the heart of the town. The hotel has been closed since 2009 and then bought by Mayo County Council but, much to the annoyance of the local community has fallen into a state of disrepair.
In its heyday, it was a very busy and bustling hotel serving visitors, traveling salesmen, and the court services as the courthouse is just 30 meters away. It was a hive of activity for music and club meetings too.
It has been recorded that the hotel started trading in 1720. It was originally two separate three-bay three-story houses and when last in business had 21 bedrooms and boasted a unique Victorian top-lit timber-paneled dining doom. It had two spacious meeting rooms that saw the formation of so many local clubs and societies, the most famous being the Mayo Land League founded by Michael Davitt in August 1879. It was known as Daly's Hotel at the time and its owner, James Daly, became Vice-President. The Land League demanded “Three Fs; fixity of tenure, fair rent and freedom to sell. This would lead to the abolition of landlordism in Ireland. Daly also owned the Mayo Telegraph in 1876 which later became the Connaught Telegraph which is still operating today. Daly died in 1911 and it was operated as the Imperial Hotel by the new owner, Edward Reid. Since then, it has changed hands many times and was renamed Daly's in 2003 before being sold again. It finally closed its doors in 2009.
In January 2021, it was announced that a Castlebar Historic Core is being considered for regeneration funding. The project is a mechanism designed to stimulate and redress vacant deterioration of historic properties that frame The Mall. This would include the Imperial Hotel and allow for repurposing it as an Innovation Hub.
