Pat ‘The Hill’ Doherty is the Buncrana man who had a vision for Belfast which others couldn’t see.
Sitting with him in the Titanic Hotel he built as part of a transformation of the city’s waterfront, I can honestly say he is unique amongst all the developers I’ve ever worked with.
Pat is exactly what you see – no pretence, airs or graces – just a man of enormous self-belief who does things well, or not at all.
Just a few hours later, a dinner would be held at the nearby Titanic Belfast visitor attraction to celebrate the 10 millionth visitor passing through the doors of the iconic building.
I had many questions about his remarkable career, but the first was how he came to be known as ‘The Hill’.
He laughs: “In Donegal there are that many Dohertys, they became known by where they lived or nicknames. My grandfather was known as The Hill, as was my father. Now it’s me. It’s a good way of being grounded and close to your roots.”
This quiet, softly-spoken and publicity-shy man believes in one thing: “results”. He’s certainly achieved a few.
His developments range from the Lough Eske Hotel in his native Donegal to the award-winning Carlisle Bay Hotel in Antigua, and from waterfront developments in St Helier to Seattle and Belfast Lough.
Along the way he has picked up an OBE and an honorary doctorate for his “extraordinary services to the economic and cultural development of the whole of Ireland”. He carries these accolades with ease.
Pat, who left school at 14, casts a long shadow in economic and property development.
He has rubbed shoulders with royalty but is as comfortable having a drink with friends or sharing the craic with those who work for him.
He has developed an incredible network of contacts across Britain and Ireland.
He is a born leader, operating 24/7, seven days a week; it is a wonder that anyone ever convinced him to stand back from running his company, Harcourt Developments.
He’s weathered three recessions and still stands firm. When asked what makes people successful, he replies “hunger”.
Even as we sit, his eye glances across at staff serving customers in the lush former Drawing Offices of Harland and Wolff, watching out for excellence.
He reminds this writer of the legendary hotel impresario Peter Malone, of the Jury Doyle Group, who would regularly clean an ash tray or wipe a table, even during an interview.
Pat, by his own admission, is not a hotelier but a builder and developer, but he has enough experience of quality service to know what customers can and should expect at his properties.
As we reminisce over a friendship stretching back 25 years, he tells me about an exciting venture he’s considering in healthcare… with his youthful enthusiasm for the next opportunity, it easy to forget he is 84 years old.
His eyes light up when talking business.
Pat proudly glances towards the Titanic building next to the hotel. The shimmering panels and reflective pools are at their best during the sunshine. He would be entirely justified in feeling a bit of pride.
This was his ‘Field of Dreams’. He believed that build it and they would come… and they did.
Back in 2011, the Audit Office thought it doubtful Titanic Belfast would be financially viable. Annual visitor targets of 290,000 would struggle to be met.
Last year, almost a million people passed through the doors. It’s arguably the most successful capital project under devolution.
Titanic Belfast has welcomed 10 million visitors since opening in 2012 (Liam McBurney/PA)
Pat brought to the Titanic the internationally renowned architect Eric Kuhne, who captivated Belfast with his genius. It was a masterstroke.
He adds: “Both Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness had faith, and it wouldn’t have taken root without them – especially Peter Robinson.”
Pat’s story mirrors that of many Irish people in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Having left school early, he apprenticed in the construction trade with his uncles. With just four years’ experience, he set off for London. It wasn’t a difficult decision.
In a previous interview, Pat explained: “Pay in Ireland was just £4 a week – it was £14 in London.”
In 2015, I sat with him in a London restaurant, accompanied by a member of the Saudi royal family. He recounted his story: “I arrived in London with £20 in my pocket.”
The prince inquired: “And from this, did you make a fortune, Mr Doherty?”
Pat chuckled: “No, I was one in a family of 10 and so within the first month, I had to send half of it back to my mother in Inishowen.”
A young Pat Doherty in Buncrana in the 1950s
The most valuable thing Pat brought to London was a determination to make it work for him. And if that took working 12 hours a day, that’s what it took.
“There is no magic bullet to success – it’s hunger and hard graft.”
Within just a few years had had struck out on his own. He had not been sure whether he would stay in England – the original plan was for just six months. At 22, he was self-employed.
In an unexpected twist of fate, Pat was contracted to do some renovation work for then Major Andrew Parker Bowles, who was planning to dive into the property development world.
Pat suggested a better scheme in exchange for 25% of the profits. Parker Bowles, ex-husband of the now queen of England, agreed.
So started a successful partnership and lifelong friendship between the man from the hills of Donegal and the gentleman from the Shires.
Parker Bowles still serves on the board of Harcourt Developments. Pat refers to him as ‘APB’.
Amongst others he worked with is former broadcaster Mike Murphy and the Duke of Abercorn, who steered the Laganside regeneration of Belfast in the 1980s.
He told this writer of once owning a chain of wine bars. Visiting them each week (Pat is very much hands-on), he found them “heaving with customers” but with one problem — “we seemed to be losing money despite being busy”.
Pat’s solution was simple: sell the bars to the management and take the rent. It worked. The lesson was stick to what you know best.
Pat is a natural storyteller, like half the folk from Donegal. Sixty years in London have not blunted his distinct, soft accent as he recounts one yarn after another. He has a wonderful laugh and a great sense of humour.
While other Irish builders in London rarely ventured beyond the famous Galtymore dance hall in Cricklewood, Pat began a partnership with music industry giant Chrysalis, looking after their properties.
He casually remarks: “You know I was part of a Beatles video for ‘Hey Jude’?” And so he was, and has the photo to prove it too.
Pat Doherty appeared as an extra in a video for The Beatles’ Hey Jude
As with so much about Pat, he is understated. He lists off his various major developments nonchalantly.
He is a canny businessman with a nose for the market and likes the challenge of complex problems.
He once owned the prestigious Chelsea Harbour Hotel, which was then London’s only all-suite hotel.
Both the Lough Eske and Carlisle Bay hotels were restored from ruins.
Scale does not scare Pat off – he has 63 acres of the former Royal Naval Hospital Haslar in Hampshire, 100 acres of development at Citywest and 230 acres at Park West in Dublin, and then there is the 185 acres at Titanic.
Pat says: “Titanic is a 75-year project.”
Unlike many others during the Celtic Tiger years, he did not get carried away. He had not bought land in Ireland since 2002. He survived the market collapse and the purgatory of NAMA.
Candidly, he says: “There was no use complaining about NAMA – they had a job to do, and we had to work with them. It was not easy, but then what is?”
His plan to stay six months in London morphed into 60 years. He met his wife Doreen, settled, and reared five children there (three of his sons followed him into the Harcourt business).
Lough Eske Castle Hotel, Donegal
One of the great passions of Pat is his love of art. He loves recounting his work for the emerging British artist David Hockney at his studio.
“Not that I knew much about him then, and I bought a few of his sketches for a few hundred pounds, knocking the price off his bill – and to think I thought I was doing him a favour.”
Now Pat has acquired a fine collection of paintings by the icon of the modern British art world.
Public realm artwork features strongly in his developments, from the Red Hugh O’Donnell redwood carving at Lough Eske to the Titanic sculpture in Belfast.
The celebrated late artist Lucian Freud — grandson of Sigmund Freud – decided that he wanted to paint Pat after meeting through their mutual friend Andrew Parker Bowles, who he had immortalised in the painting The Brigadier (a copy of which adorns the Drawing Room of the Lough Eske Hotel).
Pat recalls: “To be honest, I was reluctant about the whole idea of sitting for a portrait, but eventually agreed, believing mistakenly that I would have to sit maybe 10-15 sittings.”
Freud’s paintings of his subjects are not flattering to the eye at first. Pat endured more than 100 sittings spread over 600 hours, and he and Freud became friends and dinner companions.
Pat Doherty in Lucian Freud’s studio
One thing which did surprise him was that “six of the sittings were solely based on my tie!”
Pat Doherty is so animated when he speaks that it is hard to imagine him remaining still for six minutes, let alone 600 hours.
Normally, Freud just paints one painting of the sitter, but in Pat’s case, he did two plus a copper etching too. Even more unusual was that Freud did not like to sell his paintings to sitters… but Pat’s Irish charm won him over, and he bought both along with sketches too.
The painting is simply and rather appropriately titled ‘Donegal man’.
He generously loaned his art to the National Gallery in Dublin and held an exhibition of Freud at Titanic Belfast in collaboration with the Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum.
Titanic Belfast is the jewel in the Doherty crown. It has exceeded all expectations, but Pat is quick to share the success with others like Belfast City Council, the Northern Ireland Executive, the Titanic Foundation, and Belfast Harbour Commissioners.
Characteristically, he did not rise to speak at his own keynote event this week – as he once told me, “successful projects and quality buildings speak for themselves”.
Instead, he opted for giving his guests a gift with a message, one that summed up the lessons learned over a lifetime of success in business.
“Great achievements rarely come from certainty. They are born from belief, resilience, and the courage to keep going when others doubt.
“What started as a dream and was questioned by many has now become a beacon for millions – proof that trusting in possibility can turn scepticism into pride.
“This success does not belong to just one person, it belongs to everyone who dared to believe it could happen.”
Pat Doherty’s developments include Titanic Belfast and the Lough Eske Hotel, Co Donegal Picture: Mick Hutson (Photographer: Mick Hutson)
