One foot in the Grange as undertakers buy suburban pub in €1m-plus deal

The Grange Bar and Restaurant has been bought by Jerh O'Connor Funeral Homes

Jerh O'Connor Funeral Homes are the new owners of suburban hospitality landmark The Grange Bar & Restaurant, in a deal valued at more than €1m.

The undertakers have also confirmed to the Irish Examiner that a planning application has just been lodged for a comprehensive redevelopment of their existing funeral home at Glanmire's Hazelwood Centre, east of Cork city.

The Glanmire project will be the focus of their attention in the medium term, and the long-established Grange Bar will continue to trade as a licensed premises for the foreseeable future.

Brothers Brian (left) and Kevin O'Connor, directors of Jerh O'Connor Funeral Homes, at their Hazelwood Funeral Home in Glanmire, which is due to undergo a significant upgrade

The Grange property - on a 0.54a site with 28m of road frontage and lots of car parking spaces - came to market in October last year via Rob Coughlan of Cohalan Downing following a decision by the owners, the O'Neill family, to put it up for sale. The property had been in their ownership since 1985.

It's now been purchased by another family-run business, fourth-generation undertakers, who have yet to reveal their plans for the premises.

The plans for Glanmire, however, will be available for the public to inspect as they have now entered the planning process. In a statement to the Irish Examiner, the undertakers said their aim was to create "a modern, state-of-the-art and fit-for purpose facility to serve the future needs of families in Glanmire and the surrounding areas".

The statement said the proposed development "represents a significant reinvestment in the company's footprint in Glanmire and forms part of a wider evolution plan of Jerh. O’Connor Funeral Homes as a fourth-generation, local family business".

The Grange will continue to trade as a bar for the foreseeable future

Director Kevin O'Connor said they had been "proud to serve the Glanmire community since taking over the service from the late Mr Tom Barry, a respected and long-established funeral director, in the early 2000s".

His brother and fellow director Brian O'Connor said Glanmire was "a very important community for our family business, and this proposed redevelopment reflects our long-term commitment to the area".

"Our goal is to provide families with a modern, dignified and fit-for-purpose funeral home while continuing to offer the personal care and support that people have come to expect from Jerh O'Connor Funeral Homes.” 

Bull McCabe's on Airport Road is set for conversion to residential units

The undertakers currently serve a number of communities across Cork and have premises on Coburg St in Cork city centre, as well as in the city suburbs of Wiiton (Sarsfield Road); Ballintemple (Boreenmanna Road), Hazelwood in Glanmire and in Mayfield (Old Youghal Road).

It's not clear at this stage if the newly-acquired Grange premises will be re-purposed as a funeral home. Some recent pub sales in the city will see premises converted for alternative use. 

Bull McCabe's on the Airport Road, which recently sold for €730,000 via Rob Coughlan, is poised for conversion into residential units by a husband-and-wife team with a track record of converting former pubs into living accommodation, while Reidy’s Vault Bar on Western Road is the subject of a planning application for conversion into the city’s second Son of a Bun outlet, after changing hands earlier this year.