{"id":413383,"date":"2026-04-23T12:07:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T12:07:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/413383\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T12:07:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T12:07:10","slug":"hospitality-duo-john-and-julie-finn-are-new-owners-of-ahernes-seafood-restaurant-in-youghal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/413383\/","title":{"rendered":"Hospitality duo John and Julie Finn are new owners of Aherne\u2019s Seafood Restaurant in Youghal"},"content":{"rendered":"

TOP-class eaterie and Blue Book townhouse, Aherne\u2019s Seafood Restaurant in Youghal, Co Cork, has been acquired by well-known hospitality duo John and Julie Finn who currently run Finns\u2019 Farmcut in Kinsale.<\/p>\n

The couple confirmed to the Irish Examiner that they are the new owners of one of the country\u2019s best-known seafood restaurants, whose roots stretch back more than a century.<\/p>\n

The husband-and-wife team bought the premises from the Fitzgibbon family who ran it for three generations. John\u2019s family background \u2014 generations of butchers \u2014 means the seafood menu at Aherne\u2019s can expect a shake-up.<\/p>\n

\"Aherne'sAherne’s Restaurant, Youghal<\/p>\n

\u201cWe ran Dillon\u2019s Restaurant in Timoleague for about four years before moving to Kinsale, where we ran Finns\u2019 Table (later rebranded as Finns\u2019 Farmcut) for about 14 years, so Aherne\u2019s is our next move,\u201d Julie said, adding that it will be their first time owning their own business premises, as opposed to leasing it.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone knows Aherne\u2019s and the family has been lovely to deal with and they are delighted it\u2019s passing on to like-minded people,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Like the Fitzgibbons, the Finn family business is multigenerational, albeit it\u2019s anchored in meat rather than fish.<\/p>\n

John\u2019s parents are fourth generation butchers and run a butcher shop in Mitchelstown, Co Cork, which has been serving the local community since 1890, while the Fitzgibbons started their business at 163 North Main St, Youghal, in 1923 at a smaller premises.<\/p>\n

\" Brothers David and Johnny Fitzgibbon with their wives Gaye and Katie at Aherne’s Townhouse & Seafood Restaurant Youghal, Co Cork. Picture: Dan Linehan<\/p>\n

Finns\u2019 Farmcut is known for its farm-to-table approach using local produce and meat sourced from the Finn family farm, as well as fresh catch from nearby waters.<\/p>\n

John, a respected chef, well known in Irish food circles, said they will continue the \u201camazing prawn and lobster\u201d dishes at Aherne\u2019s.<\/p>\n

He said they would add their own twist, but they also intend to introduce meat dishes, \u201corganic, cooked on oak coals\u201d, which are prized for improving flavour and cooking quality.<\/p>\n

In preparation for their move to Youghal, the Finns have closed off reservations from next June at their restaurant on Main St, Kinsale and while they don\u2019t yet have a start date for their new venture, they envisage it will be a quick move to maintain the business as a going concern.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll be keeping Aherne\u2019s going. It could mean finishing here on a Saturday and starting at Aherne\u2019s the following Wednesday,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

While Julie has assisted in the kitchen in Kinsale since the pandemic, the move to Aherne\u2019s will see her return to front-of-house.<\/p>\n

The couple will focus initially on bar food and running the guest accommodation, ramping up the service as they \u201cfind their feet\u201d.<\/p>\n

The scale of the new operation is substantially bigger than their 50-seater restaurant in Kinsale.<\/p>\n

\"Aherne's,Aherne’s, Youghal. Picture: Karen Dempsey<\/p>\n

Aherne\u2019s has a 60-seater restaurant, with room to seat another 60 in the bar, as well as outdoor seating in a courtyard, and there\u2019s the added challenge of accommodation.<\/p>\n

The pair \u2014 who fortunately already have a house in Youghal \u2014 are undaunted. The business they are taking over is highly rated in a number of guide books and has won many awards over three decades, while the luxury townhouse accommodation, which includes 14 large en suite bedrooms plus owners\u2019 apartment, is part of Ireland\u2019s elite Blue Book network of country houses, manors, and top restaurants.<\/p>\n

The Blue Book\u2019s voucher scheme has been a key element of Ahernes\u2019 strong turnover figures, the family has said.<\/p>\n

The property has been sold by Brian Gleeson of Brian Gleeson Property for an undisclosed sum, having gone to market initially for \u20ac2m, although that guide was subsequently reduced.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TOP-class eaterie and Blue Book townhouse, Aherne\u2019s Seafood Restaurant in Youghal, Co Cork, has been acquired by well-known…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":413384,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[72,4257,61,60],"class_list":["post-413383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-cork-business","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413383","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=413383"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413383\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/413384"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=413383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=413383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=413383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}