John McDermott
1841 — 1908
John McDermott (7‑56‑3)
Born 1841 in Tyrone, McDermott arrived in Brisbane in 1864 on the Earl Russell with his wife Martha. He was the publican of one of the Valley’s most successful pubs, the Empire Hotel on the corner of Brunswick and Ann Streets. Originally a two‑story wooden building in the 1870s it was rebuilt into three storys in the 1890s. McDermott died independently wealthy in 1908 and was interred by the Reverend Father John O’Leary.
Empire Hotel, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, ca. 1934 — State Library of Queensland.