Sarah Sheehan

Meet Me at Hanrahan’s

Hamilton, Ontario - September 24,2019- Sarah Sheehan, with a PhD in medieval Irish literature, arrived from Toronto a couple of years ago. She and her wife like Hamilton's built heritage and bought an old house near Barton and Victoria. Sarah often takes the Barton bus past the old three-storey Hanrahan's Hotel, a strip joint in more recent times. When she read last month that it had closed and was slated to be torn down, she started researching the building and its stories. She wonders if it just might be Hamilton's oldest purpose-built hotel in continuous use. She thinks the building deserves adaptive re-use, not demolition. Cathie Coward/ Hamilton Spectator

I met with Spectator columnist Paul Wilson to chat local history and the fate of Hanrahan’s, the historic railway hotel turned tavern on Barton Street.

First opened in the 1870s, the former Mechanics’ Hotel / Hotel Hanrahan was the childhood home of prominent Canadian magistrate — and 1916 speed-typing champion — J. Arthur Hanrahan. As Hanrahan’s Tavern, it hosted burlesque and live music, including shows by Billie Holiday and the Tragically Hip.

With thanks to Paul Wilson.

The Hamilton Spectator (est. 1846) is published by Metroland Media Group, a division of Torstar.  Wilson’s column also appears in newspapers including the Guelph Mercury Tribune, the St. Catharines Standard, and the Waterloo Record.

Photos: Cathie Coward

The Hamilton Spectator | read online | read in print

Sarah Sheehan

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