The Shamrock Tavern (Former) was built in 1893 and, although relocated and no longer a public hotel or tavern, it is a rare surviving example of a wooden two-storey timber hotel, built on a prominent corner site, that was once a common building type in Wellington. The Shamrock formerly occupied a site on the corner of Hawkestone and Molesworth Streets for nearly 90 years. Previously the Galatea Hotel – built by Thomas and William Nicholas – had occupied the site from at least 1869. The Galatea changed proprietorship several times (and its name became The Shamrock) before it was demolished in 1892, because of its poor structural condition. Mrs Kate Herbert is recorded as being the licensee at the time of the rebuilding of The Shamrock, Mr Hunt was the contractor and the architect was P.F. Jacobsen. Work was completed in 1893. The architect P F Jacobsen moved to Wellington in 1888, and entered partnership with his architect brother T B Jacobsen. In 1892 he was contracted to improve ventilation in Parliament Buildings, along with another architect called Chatfield. Also in 1892 Jacobsen designed the Working Men’s Club building on the corner of Mercer and Victoria Streets opposite the Free Public Library. He died from typhoid fever before the Working Men’s Club building opened in July 1893. The Shamrock is a two-storey timber building, L-shaped in plan. It has regularly spaced double-hung windows on the first floor and a plain entablature above, capped by a wooden parapet which rises over the corner and Tinakori Road entrance doors. Timber pilasters flank these two entrance doors and continue on the first floor. The ground floor has a pattern of single and paired double-hung windows with keystones above each. The hotel was frequented by politicians and the wider Thorndon community, particularly before the motorway divided the suburb. It retained its Irish connections and served green beer on St Patrick's Day. In 1967 the building was converted to a tavern and substantial changes were made to the ground floor. The Shamrock was sold for redevelopment in 1978. The hotel was likely to be demolished until Wellington businessman, Rex Nicholls, bought the building and moved it in two pieces to its present site in 1981. It was one of the first successful attempts to move a threatened heritage building in New Zealand. NZHPT supported relocation of the building to save it from demolition. Now extensively modified inside, it houses a café/restaurant and shops on the ground floor, with residential units on the first floor. In Wellington, only the Thistle Inn (1866) and The Shamrock (Former) are reasonably original nineteenth century wooden hotels. The Shamrock has historic value for this reason, and for the fact that it represents a milestone in heritage conservation as one of the first initiatives to save a threatened heritage building in Wellington by relocation to a compatible site. It has architectural and aesthetic appeal.