Take a guided tour of... the Irish-led tech juggernaut that calls Anglo's ex-HQ home

Take a look behind the scenes at Intercom’s offices on St Stephen’s Green.

By Killian Woods Reporter, Fora

IF THE WALLS of Stephen Court could talk, they would probably have a few cracking stories to tell.

The office block, built in the 1970s, is the former headquarters of Anglo Irish Bank, likely the most toxic name in the nation’s corporate history.

However, after Anglo’s spectacular implosion during the financial crisis, the building has become home to a very different business - an Irish-led tech firm that is valued at around the $500 million mark and is one of the biggest success stories in the sector.

Intercom, which was founded in 2011 by Irish quartet Eoghan McCabe, Des Traynor, Ciaran Lee and David Barrett, moved into the space nearly four years ago and now occupies three floors.

The customer service messaging tools maker, which has about 220 staff in Dublin, recently announced plans to go on a hiring splurge and add 150 staff to its Irish operation.

Over the past year, we’ve been bringing you behind the scenes at some of the most exciting tech firms in Ireland.

This week, we’re giving you a peek inside Intercom’s offices on St Stephen’s Green, with Lauren Cullen, head of people operations in Dublin, leading the tour.


Like most tech companies do these days, Intercom has put a lot of thought into creating an eye-grabbing space that’s kitted out with the most recent office gadgets on the market.

For instance, the collaboration space called the ‘design studio’ has a digital whiteboard, called a ‘jamboard’, that can project handwritten messages tp Intercom’s meeting rooms in San Francisco and London.

But gadgets are one thing; usually tech companies also feel the need to have something quirky that is unique to their office. What’s Intercom’s answer to this? A wall of comic vignettes depicting each employee in the Irish office.

If that’s not mad enough for you, the comics are designed by Intercom’s full-time artist, whose sole job is to draw the comics that are produced to mark workers’ yearly anniversaries at the company.

A tech firm with its own in-house comic book artist, now we’ve heard it all.

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