Hotel Riu Plaza The Gresham Dublin, formerly The Gresham Hotel

The Gresham Hotel on O'Connell Street is one of the oldest and most famous hotels in Dublin. The hotel was destroyed in the Civil War in 1922, but was rebuilt and re-opened in 1927. One of the oldest and most famous hotels in Dublin is the Gresham Hotel on O’Connell Street. It got its name from Thomas Gresham who started the hotel in the nineteenth century. Thomas Gresham had a very sad start in life. He was abandoned as a baby on the steps of the Royal Exchange in London, and because no one knew his name, he was called Thomas Gresham after the man who founded the Royal Exchange. The Gresham held a place in James Joyce's heart and mind. He refers to it in one of his works, The Dead. Gabriel and Gretta Conroy spend the night at the Gresham after a party given by his two aunts. They arrive with Gabriel full of anticipation of the night ahead, but his world is shattered by Gretta’s revelations and weeping about the death of her former love. He stands looking out the window as she sleeps: “His soul swooned slowly as he heard the snow falling faintly through the universe and faintly falling”.