Trend setting Macroom bar

THE original of a species, a Macroom bar which spawned a host of nationwide copies with its stone floors, exposed stone walls, brick and rough-hewn timbers, is about to change hands once again.

Don's Bar is the current name over the door, prior to that it was Fureys, and when it was JP Quinlans from 1988 it set a trend for the abundant use of natural materials (and reintroduction of sawdust on the floors) that is still in evidence in probably hundreds of bars around the country today.

Ex-haulier Don O'Lary bought the thriving business three years ago with his wife Gobnait, nee Quill, who also built a stone faced large guesthouse by the lakes on the Lee several years ago. Last year the couple bought the landmark Mills Inn in Ballyvourney in a private multi-million euro deal.

They have been running both businesses since that acquisition, and have made physical changes and investment at the Mills in Ballyvourney and now want to concentrate their efforts there, hence the sale of Don's Bar, says estate agent John O'Mahony of O'Mahony Walsh Property Partners. He gives this Macroom town bar a €1 million price guide, and claims it has one of the strongest turnovers of any county town bar around.

Built into the original castle walls in Macroom, between the bridge over the Sullane river and the Square, Don's does both lunch and evening bistro food trade, and has 2,500sq ft of commercial space since Don O'Leary extended the bar a couple of years ago into an adjoining property.

In addition, it has three bedrooms, several living rooms, two private bathrooms and so space to play around with and perhaps extend upwards, with plans already drafted for such a move, he adds.

He expects interest from local buyers, those further afield and from the many buying consortia recently sprung up as a feature of the bar trade.

Mr O'Mahony last year sold the Victoria Hotel in Macroom for c 1.4 million, in an unusual deal which saw the hotel's vendor Tim Lenihan 'trading down' to a bar and shop in Kilmurray worth c 600,000, and the bar and shop owners Martin and Mary Conlon 'trading up' to take on the Victoria Hotel.