Ranelagh pub McSorley’s has been bought for €5.5 million by a consortium of former Irish rugby internationals led by publican Noel Anderson.
McSorley’s, one of Dublin’s best known pubs, will become part of the group now known as Grand Slam Bars. The consortium is owned by Mr Anderson along with former Irish international rugby players Jamie Heaslip, Dave Kearney, Rob Kearney and Sean O’Brien. It already owns Lemon & Duke in Dublin city centre, the Bridge 1859 in Ballsbridge, and the Blackrock in Blackrock, south Dublin.
Rumours of the sale by the Murray family, which has owned the pub for many years, have been swirling in recent weeks. Negotiations were first reported in April by the business website, the Currency, with the €5.5 million purchase price reported in June by The Irish Times.
The deal will add another 25 staff to Grand Slam Bars’ total, bringing it to more than 200.
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The company said it would maintain many of the established features of the Ranelagh pub, but was considering adding an “extensive” cocktail menu and were planning special events around rugby’s autumn internationals and next year’s Six Nations.
“We understand what McSorley’s means to its customers, and the special place it occupies in Ranelagh and beyond. We fully intend to maintain that, to keep the special heart and soul of McSorley’s intact. So we can assure customers there won’t be any major changes taking place. You don’t need to fix what certainly isn’t broken,” Mr Anderson said.
“McSorley’s is also a popular venue with rugby fans and we hope to develop some additional rugby features, drawing on our own sporting heritage in Grand Slam Bars to organise some special events around the upcoming internationals in the autumn and the next Six Nations.”
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