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The Wellington Club was founded in 1814 and its premises, the Wellington Rooms, designed by Edmund Aiken and erected by subscription, were opened in Mount Pleasant, in 1816. Here, a fixed number of balls was held each season. The "proprietors" of the Club held single or double shares and the Club was the centre of social life in Liverpool during the nineteenth century.

The Club's activities ceased during World War I and, despite all attempts to revive it after 1920, it became defunct in 1922 and the premises were thereafter known as the Embassy Rooms. Dances were held there but the premises were put up for sale in 1930 and in 1939 became the Rodney Youth Centre.

A bomb explosion in May 1941 caused extensive damage to the roof and ceilings and the youth centre were forced to vacate.

In 1964 it became the Irish Centre, which became a base for Irish dance classes, the highly successful Liverpool Céilí Band and the Comhaltas Céoltoirí Eireann branch.

It was vacated in the 1990s and has been left to deteriorate ever since.

Plans were submitted in 2002 to re-open it, and again in 2006 to resurrect it into a 49 bedroom hotel, but both came to naught.

BBC Article about The Irish Centre

2002 news report about the Irish Centre to reopen

2006 Plans to develop it into a hotel