Manor Inn Pub Closed - Swords

Stheno

Just noticed the Manor Inn up in Swords Manor has been closed for the past couple of weeks.

Am surprised as it seemed to have a fairly big catchment area, not many other pubs around that locality.

marozz

It closed at the end of January. It's due to a lack of customers. A sign of the times I suppose. I heard that other pubs in Swords are in trouble as well. So I wouldn't be surprised it there are more closures.

celticbest

There Darts team and there Poker night have moved to Colmcilles clubhouse.

monkeypants

There's a new takeaway opened next to it too. Loss of trade for them I'm sure.

marozz

monkeypants wrote: »

There's a new takeaway opened next to it too. Loss of trade for them I'm sure.

For the bookies as well I reckon.

SoupyNorman

I was there as a kid when it opened and I was there the night before it closed having a pint.

Not one person locally was that shocked. The place had turned into a bad habit for many of the drinkers due to the fact it was walking distance for a lot of people, the worst hit by the closure is the youth soccer team I’d say.

I remember, on a Sunday in the mid 90’s you could barely get to the bar in the gigantic lounge…and the kids…kids everywhere.

In recent years it’s changed hands a couple of times but none of the owners invested any money into it, it’s been dying a slow death. I’d say it was kept alive by the career barflies.

Last night I heard that new owners are preparing to re-open it, there is an excellent catchment locally and people do want a local to drink in (including me) but if it’s just going to open as is then I’d prefer it stayed shut. The pub is enormous, one of the biggest I’ve ever been in and this makes for a terrible atmosphere in the lounge plus it’s a fair walk to the toilets. Also, whenever they have a band or DJ, the sound bounces off the walls and hurts the ears.

The large size and terrible sound also has an impact on watching sport, whenever they did pull a crowd you could barely hear the commentary as the soundsystem is terrible and they dont have Sky Sports HD which I think should be ‘as standard’ in any pub.

I’d like to see the lounge halved in size, new tv’s and a new soundsystem installed. The bar in the lounge is also huge, that could be halved also, save the barstaff from running all around the place.

Hard to say if any of that will happen. If I had the cash I personally wouldn’t invest in The Manor, seems like a money pit to me but I hope that someone see’s potential in it and gives me back a local within walking distance.

MugMugs

Shame to see it go but to be honest, I've never really understood pubs like this.

Here, The Millenium / Peacocks, Orchard and The Kinsealy Inn..... never got the point.

It's not as if The Mayors, Cock, Harp or Pound are a million miles away from either of these catchment areas. That's why I've never drank in any of them when living in those individual areas.

monkeypants

For a pub that size, I often wondered why they didn't serve food at any time of the day.

SoupyNorman

MugMugs wrote: »

It's not as if The Mayors, Cock, Harp or Pound are a million miles away from either of these catchment areas. That's why I've never drank in any of them when living in those individual areas.

They’re not but it’s not worth going down when you just want to catch a champions league match or have a couple of pints, that’s what The Manor was great for. Again, it was a bad habit 

I’ve never drank in The Orchard but I’ve been told it’s just like The Manor.

monkeypants wrote: »

For a pub that size, I often wondered why they didn't serve food at any time of the day.

Nah, never would work. The Manor is nestled in a residential area, the definition of which dictates that everyone leaves to work in a different location during the day. In any case, it couldn’t compete with The Old Schoolhouse or The Mayors for food.


I’d say, if they reopened it as a much smaller bar where one-two barstaff could run it then it would have a chance of success but it needs to change in some way if it is to have any chance of success. And also, It’s perfectly acceptable to allow kids in the pub on a Sunday afternoon but once 7pm comes please enforce the rule, I’ve been in the bar and kids are still running around at 10pm, there is no better deterrent to customers then an un-enforced kids policy.

monkeypants

SoupyNorman wrote: »

I’ve been in the bar and kids are still running around at 10pm, there is no better deterrent to customers then an un-enforced kids policy.

That's true and it was a pain in the hoop. Also the "no ball games" signs dotted around outside; somedays you could have five or six different footballs being lashed around.

The Scientician

Fast times at Annie Oakley's. The crack we had! I just noticed the Spar beside Rockets is closed too. Seems like the whole town is closing down sometimes.

MugMugs

The Scientician wrote: »

Fast times at Annie Oakley's. The crack we had! I just noticed the Spar beside Rockets is closed too. Seems like the whole town is closing down sometimes.

Yeah, was shocked about that myself! When you think back, that place was a gold mine!

The Scientician

MugMugs wrote: »

Yeah, was shocked about that myself! When you think back, that place was a gold mine!

Petrol station with parking, better stock, and relative paucity of parking ultimately did it in I imagine. It had been sorta going downhill for a long time.

MugMugs

The Scientician wrote: »

Petrol station with parking, better stock, and relative paucity of parking ultimately did it in I imagine. It had been sorta going downhill for a long time.

I used to go to The Bros when the petrol station was a clapped out Maxol and The Spar was a minter for them. I wouldn't imagine the clampers out the back helped either. They'd sit by waiting for some unsuspecting mug to park in there.

The Scientician

MugMugs wrote: »

I used to go to The Bros when the petrol station was a clapped out Maxol and The Spar was a minter for them. I wouldn't imagine the clampers out the back helped either. They'd sit by waiting for some unsuspecting mug to park in there.

Oh yeah them too. Those clampers often seem to do more harm than good for local business.

jippo nolan

MugMugs wrote: »

Yeah, was shocked about that myself! When you think back, that place was a gold mine!

And the clampers didn't help !

SoupyNorman

The Manor Inn reopens September 6th.

It is reported that only the bar will open initially, I assume the Lounge will reopen if it's warranted.

It'll be good to have a local again but I still believe what I said in my earlier post that the pub needs a complete overhall and the lounge needs to be reduced in size.

SoupyNorman

Quick Update:

Revised date to open is August 9th.

I have also heard that the crowd that own Sinnotts on Grafton St have taken the place over. If that is the case then it really bodes well for the way it will be run and also, there should be a pot of money for some sort of investment.

marozz

SoupyNorman wrote: »

Quick Update:

Revised date to open is August 9th.

I have also heard that the crowd that own Sinnotts on Grafton St have taken the place over. If that is the case then it really bodes well for the way it will be run and also, there should be a pot of money for some sort of investment.

Yeah, I saw the sign hanging up outside the pub. Opens in time for the start of the premiership. Like you said, it will be good to have a local again and lets hope they get it right i.e. reduce the size of the lounge .

SoupyNorman

marozz wrote: »

Yeah, I saw the sign hanging up outside the pub. Opens in time for the start of the premiership. Like you said, it will be good to have a local again and lets hope they get it right i.e. reduce the size of the lounge .

I'd love to see some work done inside but we'll have to set our expectations to a lowish level for the moment. I didnt see any building work going on (not even a skip). My guess is that the place is getting a spit shine with a view to opening ASAP.

I know it's only a small thing but going to the effort of making a decent sign to tell us when it's opening speaks volumes for the owners organization. Also, did you see they took down the sign for the Chinese and the noticeboards, I thought the place looked 10 times better when they did that!

marozz

SoupyNorman wrote: »

I'd love to see some work done inside but we'll have to set our expectations to a lowish level for the moment. I didnt see any building work going on (not even a skip). My guess is that the place is getting a spit shine with a view to opening ASAP.

I know it's only a small thing but going to the effort of making a decent sign to tell us when it's opening speaks volumes for the owners organization. Also, did you see they took down the sign for the Chinese and the noticeboards, I thought the place looked 10 times better when they did that!

I totally agree you about keeping expectations low for the moment. Now that you mention I didn't see any skips. Still the paint job the did outside is already an improvement. I also got a flyer in the door with the events they have planned. I'll certainly be checking the place out.

No Pants

It'll be good to be putting the premises to some sort of use in any case. Maybe generate some extra business for the adjacent takeaways too.

SoupyNorman

No Pants wrote: »

It'll be good to be putting the premises to some sort of use in any case. Maybe generate some extra business for the adjacent takeaways too.

Oh yes, the bookies was on the verge of closing and the Italian take-away had only really opened when the Manor shut. One business compliments another, an open pub being a massive compliment!

If I have to play devils advocate, I’d say that unless the pub gets a structural facelift on the inside ( lounge reduced in size, toilets redone) then they will continue to struggle as my wife will not drink in the pub and many of the lads I drink with in the Manor have wives and girlfriends that also refuse to drink in it.

However, I will say that how a pub is run has a lot to do with the people you attract. If the new owners keep a professional front and a clean pub then locals will be receptive to that. If you go into the Lord Mayors of The Old Schoolhouse you get an air that you have entered a professional establishment. For the moment though, a lick of paint and 15 new TV’s is a hell of a lot more that the last two owners ever did and as I’ve mentioned it’s great to have a local back again. I just hope they’re savvy enough to keep it going long-term.

sharkman

facebook Page for The Manor : https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Manor-Inn-Swords/548923011822818?fref=ts