Michael McGowan buys Kestrel

Dublin publican Michael McGowan, who used own McGowan’s of Churchtown and Phibsborough, has bought The Kestrel pub overlooking the Walkinstown roundabout in Dublin from Bank of Ireland for “over €2 million”, the highest price paid for a Dublin pub this year.

The Kestrel closed last December and had been put up for auction with a guide price of €2.5 million.

Seven years ago Graham Canning bought it for the record price of €7.3 million. It was withdrawn from auction three years ago when it failed to go beyond the reserve of €7.5 million.

The ground floor of the pub comprises a lounge bar, a public bar and an off-licence with a large function room and kitchens on the first floor which together comprise 1,100 square metres. The pub also has a large basement.

He intends retaining the name and hopes to re-open it before Christmas.

“There will be no huge changes” he told Drinks Industry Ireland, “other than some cleaning and modernisation and re-upholstering of some of the seats. We intend to open before Christmas with good quality food and beer at reasonable prices.”

He sees The Kestrel as having great potential to be a successful pub in this day and age.

“Pubs are going through a hard time so it’s now a matter of really going back to the basics of good value, quality and service which I believe we dropped during the days of the Celtic Tiger.”