List of tallest buildings in Ireland

This article is about the tallest habitable buildings in Ireland. For the tallest structures overall, see List of tallest structures in Ireland.

Obel Tower in Belfast

Belfast skyline with the tallest buildings in Northern Ireland

This is a list of the tallest habitable buildings on the island of Ireland (used for living and working in, as opposed to masts and churches). This includes both Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom, and the Republic of Ireland. The island of Ireland has relatively few tall buildings. The island's first tall building was Liberty Hall, built in 1965, which stands at 59.4 metres (195 ft). The current tallest habitable building on the island of Ireland is the Obel Tower in Belfast, Northern Ireland at 85 metres (279 ft).^[1][2][3] The tallest storied building in the Republic of Ireland is Capital Dock in Dublin, at about 79 metres (259 ft).^[4][5]

Tallest habitable buildings

Northern Ireland

Rank	Name	Location	Type	Year completed	Floors (above ground)	Height	Picture
1	Obel Tower	Belfast	Residential	2010	28	85 m (279 ft) [2][1][3]
2	Grand Central Hotel	Belfast	Hotel	1975	23	80 m (260 ft)
3	Belfast City Hospital	Belfast	Hospital	1986	15	76 m (249 ft)
4	City Quays 3	Belfast	Office	2022	16[6]	73.8 m (242 ft) [7]
5	The Ewart Building	Belfast	Office	2022	17[8][9]	73 m (240 ft)
6	Belfast Hilton Hotel	Belfast	Hotel	1998	16	63 m (207 ft)
7	BT Riverside Tower	Belfast	Office	1998	14	62 m (203 ft)
8	Divis Tower	Belfast	Residential	1966	20	61 m (200 ft)
9=	Royal Victoria Hospital	Belfast	Hospital	2012	12	57 m (187 ft)
9=	The Boat	Belfast	Residential, Office	2010	15	57 m (187 ft)
11	Ulster University Campus	Belfast	Education	2022[10]	12[11]	55.5 m (182 ft)
12=	Linium Square	Belfast	Office	2005	13	55 m (180 ft)
12=	Causeway Tower	Belfast	Office	2004	13	55 m (180 ft)
12=	Great Northern Tower	Belfast	Office	1992	13	55 m (180 ft)
15	Belfast City Hall	Belfast	Government building	1906	N/A	53 m (174 ft)
16	Grainne House	Belfast	Residential	1968	17	52 m (171 ft)
17	Europa Hotel	Belfast	Hotel	1971	13	51 m (167 ft)
18	Lanyon Place	Belfast	Office	2014	12	50 m (160 ft)

Republic of Ireland

Rank	Name	Location	Type	Year completed	Floors (above ground)	Height	Picture
1	Capital Dock	Dublin	Mixed-use	2018	22[5]	79 m (259 ft)[12]
2	The Exo Building	Dublin	Office	2021	17[13]	73 m (240 ft)
3	The Elysian	Cork	Mixed-use	2008	17[14]	71 m (233 ft)[14][15]
4=	Google Docks	Dublin	Office	2010	15[16]	67 m (220 ft)
4=	Cork County Hall	Cork	Office	1968	17	67 m (220 ft)[17]
6	Millennium Tower	Dublin	Residential	1998	16	63 m (207 ft)
7	Liberty Hall	Dublin	Office	1965	17	59.4 m (195 ft)
8	One George's Quay Plaza	Dublin	Office	2002	13	59 m (194 ft)
9	Riverpoint	Limerick	Mixed use	2008	15	58.5 m (192 ft)
10	The Gateway Hotel (formerly Crowne Plaza)	Dundalk	Hotel	2007	14[18]	58 m (190 ft)
11	Sandyford Central, Block D	Dublin	Residential	2023	17[19]	57.1 m (187 ft)[19][20]
12	Clayton Hotel	Limerick	Hotel	2002	17	57 m (187 ft)
13	Boland's Quay	Dublin	Mixed use	2020	13	54 m (177 ft)
14	Metro Hotel, Ballymun	Dublin	Hotel	2005	15[21]	52.1 m (171 ft)[22]
15	Alto Vetro	Dublin	Residential	2008	16	51 m (167 ft)

Tallest buildings by city

This list only includes cities with buildings taller than 50m. Cities in light blue are in Northern Ireland.

City	Building	Height	Floor count	Completed
Belfast	Obel Tower	85 m (279 ft)	28	2010
Dublin	Capital Dock	79 m (259 ft)	22[5]	2018
Cork	The Elysian	71 m (233 ft)	17	2008
Limerick	Riverpoint	58.5 m (192 ft)	15	2008

Under construction

East Wharf, Dublin City (2024)

College Square as seen from Rosie Hacket Bridge, Dublin City (2024)

Name	Location	Type	Floors (above ground)	Height	Notes
College Square	Dublin	Residential and office	22[23]	82.1m[24][25]	Construction commenced in 2022.
Loftlines	Belfast	Residential	17	57m	Construction commenced in 2023.[26]
East Wharf	Dublin	Hotel and residential	15	52.7m	Construction commenced in 2022.[27] Topped out in 2023.^[citation needed]

Cancelled

The below list contains details of buildings with a planned height of over 50m which were under construction when the project was stopped or cancelled.

Name	Location	Type	Floors (above ground)	Height	Year cancelled	Notes
U2 Tower	Dublin	Mixed-Use	36	130m[28]	2008	3 basement floors were completed at the time of cessation of the project. The site was later used to house Capital Dock.
The Watchtower	Dublin	Hotel	40	120m[29]	2013	Site was sold to Nama in 2013 and is now partially used as the site of the Exo Building.

See also

• List of tallest structures in Ireland
• List of tallest buildings and structures in Belfast
• List of tallest buildings and structures in Dublin

References

1. "Obel Tower > Glazed In Window Vents > Belfast". brookvent.co.uk. Brookvent. 18 May 2016. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
2. "Planning permission granted for what will be Ireland's tallest building in Cork". irishnews.com. Irish News. 25 March 2021. Retrieved 3 September 2021. Ireland's tallest building is currently the Obel Tower in Belfast, standing at 85 metres high
3. "Tallest building in Ireland taken over by administrators". thejournal.ie. Journal Media Ltd. 1 December 2012. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
4. Ciarán Hancock (22 July 2016). "John Sisk to build major development at Capital Dock". Irishtimes.com. Irish Times. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
5. "Capital Dock to set new benchmark with two-bed units renting at €3,300 a month". irishtimes.com. Irish Times. 20 November 2018. Capital Dock is Ireland's tallest residential building at 22 storeys
6. "Planning approval for £46m Belfast office block".
7. "Rooftop Illuminated Building Sign on South East Elevation". https://epicpublic.planningni.gov.uk. Retrieved 6 October 2022. {{cite web}}: External link in |website= (help)
8. McLaughlin, Sophie (13 January 2022). "Former linen warehouse restoration unveiled in Belfast city centre". BelfastLive. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
9. "A 'topping out' ceremony marks huge milestone at 'The Ewart'". 23 August 2021. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
10. "Lyons visits completed Ulster University campus". economy-ni.gov.uk. 28 September 2022.
11. "FCBS scoops planning for £250m Belfast campus". architectsjournal.co.uk. 14 March 2013.
12. "Huge new office development set for Dublin's Docklands". thejournal.ie. The Journal. 20 October 2015.
13. Olivia Kelly (31 March 2016). "Green light for plan to build Dublin's tallest office block". Irishtimes.com. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
14. "Cork anchor unit for over €13m". Irish Times. 9 April 2008.
15. "2008 – The Elysian, Eglinton St., Cork". Archiseek. 2010.
16. "Google snaps up Dublin's landmark Montevetro development". Independent News & Media. 17 February 2011.
17. "County Hall, County Cork". National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. Retrieved 19 October 2018. Detached rectangular-plan seventeen-storey county hall, built 1968, [..] For many years it stood as the tallest building in Ireland at 67m
18. "Crowne Plaza Dundalk Could Be Set To Change Hands". Talkofthetown.ie. 12 March 2018. Retrieved 19 October 2018. The 14 storey, 129 bed Crowne Plaza Dundalk opened in September 2007
19. "Citizen Portal Planning". planning.agileapplications.ie. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
20. "Apartment Highlights - The Hudson - Dublin Apartments to Rent". The Hudson. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
21. "€5.5m for hotel and apartments". irishtimes.com. Irish Times. 2 April 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
22. "Planning application: Metro Hotel, Dublin Airport, Santry Cross, Ballymun Road, Dublin 9". Dublin City Council. 16 November 2017. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
23. "Permission granted to build one of Ireland's tallest buildings on site of former Apollo House". TheJournal. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
24. "College Square, Dublin, Planning amendment granting extra 22nd floor". Dublin City Council.
25. "Elevation Planning Doc" (PDF). Dublin City Council.
26. "'Something seriously wrong with planning system' as Belfast's Titanic Centre set to be surrounded by 17-storey blocks of flats while parallels drawn with Waterfront Hall". NewsLetter. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
27. "MKN applies to convert planned six office units to apartments". Business Post. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
28. "U2 Tower Dublin". Archived from the original on 13 January 2021.
29. "The Watchtower Dublin". Archived from the original on 11 January 2021.