{"id":661932,"date":"2026-10-22T09:36:19","date_gmt":"2026-10-22T09:36:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/661932\/"},"modified":"2026-10-22T09:36:19","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T09:36:19","slug":"back-for-the-jazz-corks-pearl-the-oyster-tavern","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/661932\/","title":{"rendered":"Back for the jazz, Cork\u2019s pearl, The Oyster Tavern"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Oyster Tavern, an 18th-century pearl in Cork<\/a> city\u2019s hospitality scene, is re-opening, just in time for this weekend\u2019s Guinness Cork Jazz Festival<\/a>, after an almost three-year closure.<\/p>\n

The historic premises, which dates to 1792 and had ties to some of the city\u2019s merchant princes, will retain its name under new operator Paul Whelan.<\/p>\n

Mr Whelan, whose background is in real estate and construction, is reworking the well-known bar into a more traditional Irish pub venue, moving away from the faux-tropical style of d\u00e9cor introduced upstairs by previous owner, publican and restaurateur Alan Clancy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mr Clancy, of the Nolaclan hospitality group, acquired the three-storey premises in 2017 and invested \u20ac1.5m in an upmarket fit-out. However, trade took a hit during the pandemic, and the premises closed its doors at the end of 2023.<\/p>\n

\" Jonathan Keyes and Thomas Harden at The Oyster Tavern at the English Market, Market Lane. The bar re-opens at 3pm on Thursday in time for the Guinness Jazz Festival. Picture: Larry Cummins<\/p>\n

The real estate development firm Mr Whelan is linked to, Balford Anner, with an address in New York, also acquired a pub in the Dublin city suburb of Ranelagh. Mr Whelan said the other main project the firm is involved in in Ireland is a student accommodation development in Dublin 1 and that \u201call other activity is primarily in New York\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He said the company is currently interested in another NolaClan-linked venue, House Dublin on Lower Leeson St, which is in receivership.<\/p>\n

The Waterford man\u2019s venture into the Cork hospitality sector sees him take on a tavern with a long and colourful history and a key part of the city\u2019s social scene for generations. His plan is to convert the ground floor bar into a gastropub that serves food throughout the day, with a carvery offering, using produce from the nearby English Market.<\/p>\n

\u201cLong-term our plan after the Jazz and Christmas is to transform the upstairs bar into a late bar only\u201d, he said, with opening hours upstairs restricted to Thurs \u2013 Sat, with extended bank holiday hours.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

A team of people has been prepping the venue in recent weeks, including artist Meadhbh N\u00ed Churraoidh\u00edn (P\u00e9inte\u00e1ilte ag Meadhbh ) who has painted the new Oyster Tavern sign outside the pub and has been busy redecorating whiskey barrels from Midleton Distillery for use as outdoor tables. Carpenter Stephen Ryan worked on the fit out.<\/p>\n

Lia Dennehy, commercial divisional director with Savills, said they were pleased to secure an operator \u201cfor such an iconic Cork hospitality venue\u201d and that the successful letting of the property would ensure the continuation of a legacy that dates back to the 18th century, \u201cas well as demonstrating ongoing confidence in prime city centre hospitality assets\u201d.<\/p>\n

She said the availability of a ready-to-trade premises at The Oyster Tavern was \u201ca significant factor in generating occupier interest and ultimately securing a long-term commitment from the tenant\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ms Dennehy said the transaction is \u201cparticularly notable given the challenges faced by the licensed trade in recent years\u201d.<\/p>\n

Mr Whelan told the Irish Examiner that the late veteran pub auctioneer John P Younge, from Milltown, Dublin, who died recently, had been instrumental in seeing the deal through, along with law firm Lavelle Partners.<\/p>\n

Historically renowned for serving fresh oysters and wines to traders, merchants and visitors to the market, The Oyster Tavern has remained a well-known feature of Cork\u2019s social and hospitality landscape for over two centuries. Its origins date back to 1792, when the premises first operated, adjacent to the English Market.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Historical records show it was leased to a widow called Stokes on a plot of land in Cenderberry\u2019s Lane, now Market Lane. In the early 20th century, it became known as the Royal Oyster Tavern and Dining room and was a go-to venue for dining, business lunches, and who you might meet. A fire caused serious damage in 1969, but it was reported back in operation in six weeks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Nicholson family, associated with the Cork wine-importing firm Woodford Bourne, sold the business in 1990. Subsequent changes of ownership and a period of decline followed, and the business ceased trading in 2014 before re-opening under Alan Clancy in 2017, and closing again in 2023.<\/p>\n

Its reopening this week coincides with the opening of the jazz festival, one of the busiest weekends in the city for the hospitality industry.<\/p>\n

Among the lineup at The Oyster Tavern are Irish trad-pop\/folk-pop band Seo Linn. Saturday night will see fire-breathers on the lane, followed by Aisling Dunne on saxophone with a DJ for the remainder of the evening.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The pub will close again after the jazz for a couple of days, before reopening later in the week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Oyster Tavern, an 18th-century pearl in Cork city\u2019s hospitality scene, is re-opening, just in time for this…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":661933,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[4257,103902,93,61,60],"class_list":["post-661932","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-cork-business","tag-cork-pubs","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661932","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=661932"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661932\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/661933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=661932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=661932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=661932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}