Glass Curtain owner to open new venue at former Chambers bar on Washington St

It will be a more casual dining experience than the MacCurtain St venue, with a strong focus on cocktails

Head chef Brian Murray serves up the starters at  The Glass Curtain, MacCurtain St. Picture: Chani Anderson.

THE chef owner of fine dining restaurant The Glass Curtain on MacCurtain St is to open a second Cork city venue on Washington St at the premises formerly known as Chambers/Sinners.

Former Chambers/Sinners premises, Washington St

Brian Murray has confirmed to the Irish Examiner that he is the new tenant of what was a substantial disco bar and popular drag show venue, and that he intends to name his new business "Birdsong".

"Birdsong was the name of our outdoor grill pop-up during covid and that's the concept we'll be building on," he said, adding that the menu will be more evolved than the outdoor barbeque, but less formal than The Glass Curtain. A charcoal grill will be installed as part of the fit-out and a wood-fired oven - "although not necessarily for pizzas, we want to do a lot of roasting," the proprietor said.

Mr Murray is hopeful that the new venue will be up and running by October, in time for the Cork Jazz festival.

"My builder says I'm being over-ambitious, so it's a fairly lose date, but that's what I'd be hoping for. The design isn't fully nailed down, but we are 99% there," he said.

The corner building, next to Reardans bar and nightclub complex, has been closed for more than two years and is in a building called Courthouse Chambers, which dates to the 1800s, and is linked to Clarendon Properties, owners of the Queens Old Castle and Savoy Centre premises.

It was brought to market in early 2025 by Kevin O'Sullivan of Barry Auctioneers, who offered it by way of a lease assignment for a nominal fee of €1.

At the time, the c 3,900 sq ft property with services was held on a ten-year lease at an annual rent of €115,000, with rates at €24,000 pa and annual service charges of €16,000. The lease has now been assigned to the new operator for undisclosed terms, with six years left to run.

Hundreds of Cork City's LGBTQ+ community gathered on steps of the courthouse in Washington St opposite the venue formerly known as "Chambers", in a peaceful but lively protest, rallying against the Pub’s surprise decision in 2023 to disassociate itself from the community by painting over its rainbow facade, firing drag acts booked for future performances and changing its name to Sinners Picture: Chani Anderson

Mr Murray's decision to open a second venue on a key street west of the city centre comes just days after confirmation that fellow MacCurtain St hospitality operator, Son of a Bun,is also set to open a second city restaurant just a couple of 100 metres from Birdsong, on Western Road. The new Son of a Bun outlet is destined for the former Reidy's Bar on Lancaster Quay and a planning application to renovate the premises was lodged last week.

Reidy's on nearby Washington St is set for a Son of a Bun restaurant

Mr Murray said their new premises will also require considerable renovation as it doesn't have a kitchen - although it did have at one point when chef Séamus O'Connell - best known for running the now-closed Ivory Tower - was running Pi. Since Pi closed, it's operated more as a bar/club. Mr Murray said he been keeping an eye out for a second premises for some time, and although the Chambers was a little bigger than he had planned, he felt the Washington St location was a winner.

"It's a great area, with great footfall and I think we can add something to that area, that we can bring something special, that we can do a lot of fun things. And it's nice to book-end the city, between MacCurtain St and Washington St," he said.

Mr Murray, from Carrigtwohill, Co Cork, opened The Glass Curtain in 2019 having built up an impressive CV, including pending five years in Dubai at the Grand Hyatt and at the Yannick Alléno restaurant in The One & Only, before moving into private yacht catering in the Mediterranean and east coast of the US.

Behind the scenes prep at The Glass Curtain Picture: Chani Anderson

His new venture will be headed by Darren Kennedy, who is head chef at The Glass Curtain and has a stake in the new business. Mr Murray said Birdsong will have "a big focus on cocktails" and that patrons can come for dinner or for drinks, or both, as they will have a full bar menu. The Washington St premises can seat 90-100, compared to 36 seats at The Glass Curtain, formerly part of Thompson's bakery premises. Employee numbers are likely to be in the range of 20-30.

The former Chambers/Sinners' premises faces Cork's historic, 1830s’ built Georgian era City Courthouse and is close to UCC. In recent years, its fortunes contrasted sharply with the adjoining Reardons complex which sold in 2024 to Attestor Capital as part of a total c €30m transaction that included the Oliver Plunkett bar on Oliver Plunkett St.