Wellington Rooms, Liverpool

The Neoclassical building was designed by the architect Edmund Aikin and built between 1815 16 as a subscription assembly room for the Wellington Club. It was originally used by high society for assemblies, dance balls and parties. The Wellington Club was wound up in 1922. Between 1923 and 1940 it was the Embassy Club and was used for tea dances, classes and weddings. During World War 2, the building became the first base for the Rodney Youth Centre, though bomb damage in 1941 affected all of the original ceilings with the exception of the ballroom. The building officially opened as the Liverpool Irish Centre on 1 February 1965 hosting céilithe, music, drama performances as well as serving…

The building was designed with a central entrance that leads into an octagonal room from which three further rooms can be accessed. These were originally used as a drawing room, refreshment room and ballroom. The building had three separate entrances which were intended for men, ladies and sedan-chairs & carriages. The building is of red brick on a square corner plot, with a stone-faced frontage to Mount Pleasant, decorated with neo-classical motifs and a central bay entrance. The Wellington Rooms were designated a listed building (Grade II*) in the 1950s, but this official protection did not prevent the property becoming derelict after the Irish Centre closed in 1997.