Macturcaills gone?

skimpydoo

Does anyone know whats happened to Macturcaills pub?. The signs are down, the doors are locked and the windows are whitewashed.

matrim

skimpydoo wrote: »

Does anyone know whats happened to Macturcaills pub?. The signs are down, the doors are locked and the windows are whitewashed.

Apparently they couldn't pay some of the bills and has to close. It has been fairly dead for a long time now.

BeerNut

I heard it was acquired by the Cock & Bull guys. I'm guessing it'll be re-opening under their brand. Odd timing though.

whiskeyman

BeerNut wrote: »

I heard it was acquired by the Cock & Bull guys. I'm guessing it'll be re-opening under their brand. Odd timing though.

Great location for a pub and was always packed in the early 2000s.
Seemed to die a death over the past 6 years or so though?
A good rebrand could breath some life back into it.

The Master

whiskeyman wrote: »

Seemed to die a death over the past 6 years or so though?

Have to disagree, it was my local for many years was packed most nights.
All pints were €4 and only €3.60 on a Sunday.
You couldn't move in the place at times.

A few weeks ago when the place was leased out all pints went up to €5.20 and the place was deserted every night.
They removed all of the ornaments from the windows and you could see the staff just standing round with nothing to do.

It's closed now for refurbishment and will re-open as The Cock and Bull in a few weeks

matrim

The Master wrote: »

Have to disagree, it was my local for many years was packed most nights.
All pints were €4 and only €3.60 on a Sunday.
You couldn't move in the place at times.

A few weeks ago when the place was leased out all pints went up to €5.20 and the place was deserted every night.
They removed all of the ornaments from the windows and you could see the staff just standing round with nothing to do.

It's closed now for refurbishment and will re-open as The Cock and Bull in a few weeks

There were alot of sundays where they didn't bother to open because there was no business

The Master

matrim wrote: »

There were alot of sundays where they didn't bother to open because there was no business

I was in there every Sunday for the last year it was always open and at €3.60 a pint the place was always packed with the football crowd

neris

whiskeyman wrote: »

Great location for a pub and was always packed in the early 2000s.
Seemed to die a death over the past 6 years or so though?
A good rebrand could breath some life back into it.

Was never in it but I always thought it was an odd location for a bar. Not quite out of the way but footfall wise a quietish area and just that few meters further from Dolier street. I know you have the garda station, irish times and a few other businesses close.

The Master

The cheap pints used to bring a lot of students in and foreign language courses used to have meet ups in it too, doubt they'll be back after the revamp

matrim

The Master wrote: »

I was in there every Sunday for the last year it was always open and at €3.60 a pint the place was always packed with the football crowd

Haven't been around as much on a Sunday in the last year but there was about a 2 year period where it was closed most sundays

Birneybau

The Master wrote: »

Have to disagree, it was my local for many years was packed most nights.
All pints were €4 and only €3.60 on a Sunday.
You couldn't move in the place at times.

A few weeks ago when the place was leased out all pints went up to €5.20 and the place was deserted every night.
They removed all of the ornaments from the windows and you could see the staff just standing round with nothing to do.

It's closed now for refurbishment and will re-open as The Cock and Bull in a few weeks

And pretty bad from my recollection of being in there a while ago.

anncoates

neris wrote: »

Was never in it but I always thought it was an odd location for a bar.

Not really. It's well within the radius of trinity. In my student days, it was quite popular.

FloatingVoter

^ Exactly...Screen cinema just down the road, Trinity within staggering distance and a building full of journalists across the street. I'll miss the €4 pints. Not so much the toilets.

AndonHandon

Doyles had and has the better atmosphere on a Friday and Saturday nights; I would have counted them similar enough in terms of market for which they were competing.

BeerNut

Heard yesterday that Cock & Bull aren't taking it after all. It's closed indefinitely.

Warper

Decent carvery as well for under a tenner, its strange pubs that offer knock down prices on pints always seem to close?

neckedit

Warper wrote:

Decent carvery as well for under a tenner, its strange pubs that offer knock down prices on pints always seem to close?

snobbery, some people equate cheap booze with poor quality booze.....kinda like the initial uproar when Weatherspoons looked to open. was only in the bar twice, enjoyed the chtistmas buzz had a laugh. always sad to see any biz close, there's always a human story at the back of it.

Birneybau

Warper wrote: »

Decent carvery as well for under a tenner, its strange pubs that offer knock down prices on pints always seem to close?

I always thought it was just a way to get rid of stock. Bar Weatherspoons, have only ever seen it in pubs that have seen better days.

kfallon

Warper wrote: »

Decent carvery as well for under a tenner, its strange pubs that offer knock down prices on pints always seem to close?

Used to love their carvery back in the day (circa 2001-2), the chef from the North would leather the grub on to the plate, you hadn't a clue what he was saying but you just smiled politely in the hope he'd give you more mash

neris

Warper wrote: »

Decent carvery as well for under a tenner, its strange pubs that offer knock down prices on pints always seem to close?

well in fairness no business making a profit, surviving and doing well is going to go selling their stock at massively reduced prices.

skimpydoo

Judging by the comments on here, it's gone for good which is a shame.

Davexirl

Great pub for cheap pints, gonna miss the chicken wings, nice big bowl of them for €9.50. Sad to see it go.

The Master

I was talking to a former staff member over the weekend.
The pub owner apparently is badly in debt and the cock and bull franchise have pulled out because of the uncertainty over future ownership of the property

Roguery

Any idea who owned it?

septictank

O'Connells, had a few other pubs around town.

apieceofcake

We were driving by MacTurcaills last Sunday and it looked open.

This thread came into my head as we came up to it, so I made sure I looked!

Have fond memories of it from my college days.

imme

has been closed for about the last 3-4 weeks.
the windows have been whited over so you can't see what's happening inside.

nothing looks to be happening the past week or two.

Yakuza

I used to go there fairly frequently when working in Irish Life (handy to meet folks coming from elsewhere). Good value food (full carvery for under a tenner or an open sandwich + a generous portion of chips for about €5). It seemed reasonably busy most lunchtimes, pity it's gone.

BlimpyBoy

Anyone hear anything else about what's happening with MacTurcaills?

Is it re-opening under new ownership or staying closed?

PlayByTheRules

The Sunday Business Post had an article on this some weeks ago. Apparently the Brogan family (Bernard Brogan the footballer that is) had bid on it along with another bidder. I believe they lost in the bidding process but felt there was foul play in how it was handled so it's in the courts at present. Probably can't trade until that is resolved.

The previous owner or operator was a Kilkenny man named Frank, he was a lovely fella but as everyone said it lost a lot of business over the years and they put almost no money into it. A little bit of work would go a long way, just look at the old Kennedy's beside Tara St, it's now the Work Shop and doing great business as a gastro pub with craft beers.

I'm sure McTs will be open again once the court case is resolved as it has potential.

septictank

That's interesting as the Brogans are neighbours of Frank O' Connell and both have strong GAA ties.