Bar and nightclub fetch over €11m

HOT €5 million-plus prices have been paid for two landmark bar and entertainment venues, Lillie’s Bordello in Dublin and the Oyster Tavern in Cork.

Dublin’s legendary nightspot Lillies failed to sell at auction last month, but successfully found new owners yesterday afternoon.

Auctioneer John P Younge confirmed the sale of the leasehold business, via shares, at a price understood to be less than €5.5 million.

The venue was sold for owner Dave and Mairead Egan to Oliver Hughes and Liam Lehart, owners of the Porterhouse micro-brewery pub in Dublin city centre.

The nightspot is held on a 99-year lease from 1967, subject to seven-year reviews. The current rent is €270,000.

Meanwhile, in Cork city centre the Oyster Tavern has turned into a pearl for publican Tom Scriven.

He bought the pub for around €2.5m in the last year, re-established it as a gay bar, but struck a deal for e6m with a change of ownership due in March. The reputed purchaser in trust is property investor Joe O’Donovan, whose name has also been linked to the €126m purchase of Wilton Shopping Centre in Cork.