Brewing back ontrack at Messrs Maguire
Run by Philip and Caroline Hickey, Messrs Maguire is one of three Quinn Group pubs operated by lessee Philip, the other two being the Q Bar, immediately adjacent to Messrs and the Barge in Ranelagh.
Philip’s association with the Quinn Group began when he leased the Barge in June 1994. Six years later he opened Messrs Maguire as a microbrewery pub and went on to open the Q Bar that same year.
All three have done well.
“Messrs Maguire is situated in an historic location on Burgh Quay and we wanted to bring some of the Dublin traditions back into the offering and refresh the overall feel,” says Philip.
When Philip first took over Messrs Maguire, it was called Wrights and was a small pub, only about half the size it is today. The Quinn Group renovated it and installed a microbrewery. That was 10 years ago. So the pub began ustilising the talents of Cuilan Lochnane, a Tipperaryman who spent the next seven to eight years brewing up for Messers Maguire before deciding to return to his native sod in Templemore last year to fire up his own White Gypsy brewery at which time the Dublin microbrewery pub ceased onsite brewing while a replacement was sought.
But Cuilan continued to supply the beers from his Templemore brewing base while the Hickeys searched for a replacement brewer.
He was missed.
“Messrs Maguire had always brewed beer to its own recipe on the premises,” remembers Caroline, “We missed the aromas of brewing around the place – and there’s a great novelty value for the customer to brewing onsite.”
It took Philip and Caroline about a year to find their replacement, Melissa Camire, a Washington DC brewer, who’d been working in England keeping up her interest in brewing. She was duly interviewed and agreed to move over here following a couple of exploratory visits to check out the capital.
“We are very happy with Cuilan’s decision to open the White Gypsy in Templemore” says Philip, “and still have a great working relationship with him, regularly consulting with him on speciality beers and those brewed by small independents in Ireland. It is great to see the brewery back up and running in the Brewery Bar after a short hiatus and under Melissa’s care, the aroma is taking over the building with customers eager to sample the range on offer.”
Now that the microbrewery pub is back, they pair will concentrate on food.
“Our food is carefully selected to compliment our unique beers,” explains Philip., “With the launch of the Brewery Bar, we wanted to bring the focus back to the range of Messrs Maguire craft beers and make them centre stage of the offering. To compliment the range of beers, we developed a new food offering in line with the authentic Irish service we wanted for our customers. From Dublin Coddle to Dublin Bay Prawns, Beer Battered Cod to the Messrs House Burger, we believe that the new menu gives customers good quality, authentic Irish food at a good price. Within the Brewery Bar, customers can try a tasting menu with dishes matched to each of our craft beers as part of the beer tasting tray on offer.”
He continues, “After a number of years on Burgh Quay, we wanted to bring the focus back to the range of beers brewed on site and welcome our new House Brewer Melissa. For us, as with every establishment throughout the country, our customer is our focus and having looked at what city centre customers were looking for, we decided to re-invest in the brand, the offering, the website and the look and feel of the Brewery Bar; the aim was to refresh the overall offering of Messrs Maguire, bring the focus back to the beers brewed on site and bring some authentic Dublin hospitality back into the establishment. Along with all of this, we wanted to create a bit of noise on a national level and created a bit of noise in the city centre with the Messrs Maguire Mass Haka on Grafton Street in the lead up to the Guinness Series match against the All Blacks”.
As Caroline explains, “Our location in the city centre means that we are catering to both Irish and international customers. Looking at what both were looking for, we wanted to create a more authentic Irish offering in line with current tastes and demands. The Messrs Maguire craft beers created on site are unique to our establishment and we wanted to bring them centre stage with a food offering to compliment each of the beers. Now our customers can come into Messrs Maguire, sample a large range of craft beers, enjoy authentic Irish service and atmosphere and enjoy good quality Irish food at a good price”.
So Messrs Maguire is once again happily brewing onsite at Burgh Quay, the only independent pub brewery in town.
