Next in our series of Coolgardie Hotels is Colreavy’s Shamrock Hotel:
Colreavy’s Shamrock Hotel, Coolgardie 1895. The lady in the centre next to the man is Cath Colreavy – Photo Hemus and Hall
When the Shamrock Hotel, on the corner of Sylvester and Jobson Streets, Coolgardie was opened in September 1895, the licensee, Mrs Cath Colreavy, announced her best efforts would be used to
‘promote the comfort and convenience of patrons and visitors’.
Despite having twenty bedrooms for guests, permanent boarders were housed in a special building at the rear of the hotel. Its construction was of iron lined with hessian and paper.
The hotel changed hands in 1902, but was destroyed by fire two yeas later when the ceiling of the Sitting Room, which had been sagging for some time, fell onto a kerosene lamp. It was said the Fire Brigade used 25,000 gallons of water to put out the blaze, but this was denied. Although it was admitted that a large volume of water was used, this was attributed to leaking hoses.
The Shamrock was rebuilt by Vincent & Lipman and re-opened on May 6, 1904 and became the rendezvous for ‘cyclists and other highly perfumed individuals who assembled at the Shamrock in the days when the Wheel was king’.
As a further inducement, they were offered the use of a large training room and free showers in addition to
‘copious quantities of Lion Beer with a head as big as a cauliflower’.
The original licensee, Mrs Catherine Colreavy, arrived in Western Australia in 1882 as the matron on the emigrant ship, the Glenavon. She was then a widow and known as Mrs Cunningham. In 1886 she married Bernard Norbert Colreavy in Perth. By 1893 she was again a widow after the death of Bernard. She continued to run the hotel with the help of her son Jack Cunningham, who was also known as Jack Colreavy, until 1902 when she moved to Kalgoorlie.
The Licensees:
Mrs Cath Colreavy 1895 -1901
Alex Young – 1902
Edward Stoph – 1903-4
G Lathrope – 1905
T Cunningham – 1906-7
J Tantanini – 1908-9
George Willman -1910
By 1911 it seems to have lost its licence, as it was advertised to rent as a private residence. By 1918, the hotel – one of the first to close down – was sold and carted away. Bernard Norbert Colreavy was a well known and respected miner and prospector who was the discover of the Golden Valley in WA
Bernard Norbert Colreavy W.A. Bulletin Saturday 29 September 1888, page 7
Moya Sharp
Latest posts by Moya Sharp (see all)
- Blood on the Mulga Plains: The Last Day of John Sutherland - 28/02/2026
- A Brother’s Return in Mourning: Tragedy on the Coolgardie Goldfields - 28/02/2026
- The Contract at Old Warden Shaft - 28/02/2026
Cath Colreavy is my great great grandmother. I’m beyond excited I have come across this gorgeous picture. Thank you so much!