Don’t bypass Macroom bar sale, it's a place of legends like Rory Gallagher
Jack Cotter of TP Cotter's Bar on Main St, Macroom, beside a kingsize image of legendary blues and rock guitarist Rory Gallagher, who headlined the country's first open air rock concert in the town in 1977. The poster/cardboard cut-out dates back to the festival. Picture Larry Cummins
AN impressive bank of memorabilia, including Rory Gallagher souvenirs from Ireland’s first major open-air music festival, are part of the history of TP Cotter’s, a third generation Macroom pub, on the market, along with an adjoining premises, for €875,000.
The traditional, family-run business, a fixture of Main Street since 1902, is being sold by Jack and his wife Breda Cotter as they prepare to retire. Jack, whose grandfather Timothy Patrick (TP) opened the pub more than a century ago, has worked in the bar for the past 53 years, since the age of 17.
He and Breda took over the running of the popular pub following the death of Jack’s father in 1988. Breda also comes from a family of publicans; her mother Sheila Lynch had the Castle Bar in Macroom.
“We are selling with heavy hearts. We’ve loved running the pub and we enjoyed building up good relationships with our loyal customers over the years. We’ve had a very loyal staff too, some of them are with us more than 20 years. It’s a huge call for us to make, but it’s time to retire,” the couple say, adding that TP Cotter's is one of just two Macroom pubs under third generation ownership.
The couple are also selling adjoining 13 Main Street, which includes a ground-floor retail unit and two floors of overhead accommodation, including three bedrooms.
The pub they are vacating was bought by TP Cotter following his return from the USA, having emigrated there from nearby Inchigeela while still a teenager.
A framed tribute to TP, which hangs in the pub, notes that he left his family behind in the 1890s to seek his fortune in the Land of the Free.
“He travelled in the hope that one day he would return to Ireland and invest in setting up his own business,” the tribute notes.
He clearly did make his fortune, because upon returning to these shores, he bought not just one, but three premises. They included two Cork City pubs, the Mountain Bar on Evergreen Street and Cotters at 64 Barrack Street (now Mr Bradley’s). These premises were later sold, but TP Cotter’s has remained in the family, passing from TP to his son Jerry (Jeremiah) in 1949 and to Jack in 1988. The business was clearly well run, as evidenced by meticulously detailed ledgers dating back to the early days, on display in glass cases in the pub.
How TP earned a living in the USA is not entirely clear but Jack believes he was cheffing. The knack for hospitality is in the family at any rate, as the bar named after him has a solid reputation for catering.
TP Cotter’s serves food on a daily basis, including breakfast and lunch. The premises comes with a fully fitted commercial kitchen.
The business survived because it adapted with the times. The bar counter swapped sides in 1989 when the Cotters acquired the adjoining premises, which used to be the old telephone exchange. Two years after the smoking ban was introduced in 2004, they created a large, outdoor seating area where you will see a kingsize image of legendary guitarist Rory Gallagher, dating to the heady days of the first Macroom Mountain Dew Festival in 1977, when Ireland’s youth got its first taste of an open-air rock concert. The poster was used to advertise the festival headline act and was retained and installed in the beer garden.
A framed ticket from that first festival hangs next to Rory. TP’s has continued the tradition of hosting live music (and musicians, Paul Brady and Stephanie Rainey were among the callers over the years), with lots of scope for entertainment outback, where the outdoor seating area now has a roof, installed during the pandemic.
There’s an outdoor bar counter too and more outdoor seating space beyond the roofed section.
Beyond the beer garden is a very large, vaulted barn-type premises which is used for storage now, but was a mill back in Jack’s father’s time, where he used to grind maize, barley and wheat to sell to farmers.
Jack said there’s potential to do a lot more with this outbuilding. There’s also scope to do more with overhead four-bed living quarters, where Jack reared his family, before relocating to a new home near the town 17 years ago. A new owner could renovate and modernise and "live above the shop". A separate three-bed apartment off the beer garden was modernised and has been a successful rental.
Sam Kingston of Casey and Kingston is overseeing the sale of Nos 13 and 14 Main Street, Macroom, and he is guiding at €875,000.
“Jack and Breda have laid an excellent foundation for the business and it’s there for anyone who wants to take it on to the next level,” Mr Kingston said.
“With the opening of the Macroom bypass and the proposed programme of street enhancement, it’s a great opportunity for someone to come and take it on,” he added.
Both premises are in pride trading spots. The bar with overhead accommodation extends over three floors to 612 sq m (6587 sq ft). Macroom is c30km west of Cork City.
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