A new-bourne identity for Cork’s Woodford bar?

IS THERE a market yet for a pub sale in Cork city, significantly over the €1m mark? A bar in an historic building, long associated with wine and spirits company Woodford Bourne, aims to find out, as the Woodford Bar comes to market seeking a new Bourne identity.

Set 100 metres from where Wetherspoons have just cleared planning hurdles to open a city bar (see planning notes p20), and just off Patrick Street and the Grand Parade, the Woodford (previously Maguires) is up for sale this week guided at €1.25m for a receiver David Taite, of Duff & Phelps, via joint agents Cohalan Downing in Cork and Morrisseys in Dublin.

A 19th century warehouse building on Paul Street, with access to Daunts Square, the Woodford has a history stretching to 1750 in the wine and spirits trade. The building opened as a bar in the 1980s, with some 6,900 sq ft in all, over five levels and with 2,400 sq ft at ground level.