Adare is home to the Pub of the Year!

Aunty Lena’s in Adare, Co Limerick was named as Pub of the Year at the Irish Pub Awards 2023. Gary Murnane, general manager of Aunty Lena’s spoke to Fionnuala Carolan about what makes this pub stand out for all the right reasons

Located in the picturesque village of Adare County Limerick, Aunty Lena’s reigned supreme at the Irish Pub of the Year Awards 2023. This gastro pub beat off competition from 63 other regional winners to become the top pub in the country and the first Limerick pub to ever win the title. Aunty Lena’s was established in 1806 by well-known publicans, the Chawke family. It was recently extended to include the old Adare Court House next door, adding much needed capacity and throwing some nice history into the mix.

In fact, Aunty Lena’s was originally a shop run by Charlie Chawke’s aunt Lena in the early 1980s. She passed away in 1985 and it was eventually turned into a full time bar and restaurant.

Gary Murnane, general manager of Aunty Lena’s explains how it evolved. “Aunty Lena’s was originally a sweet shop but she would have served a few pints too, as they did in the day. Sweets was her main business and then there was a very small bar in the corner”.

Aunty’s Lena’s now has 32 staff and Murnane explains the excitement generated among them from the win. “After our win the mood among staff went up a load of knots immediately. It’s great for them to be acknowledged for their hard work and great to be recognised. It puts you on the map. They are really enjoying it and we know it’s short lived so enjoy it while we can.”

He says they have been vying for the top award for the last few years so were thrilled to finally receive it.

“We won the Customer Service Award in 2019 and we were finalists in 2018 so we’ve been knocking on the door for a number of years. It was still a bit of a shock to be fair but I feel like we are very worthy champions because a lot of hard work goes on here. We’ve a great team and the food quality is exceptional and I’m not being biased,” he frankly states.

According to Murnane, owner Charlie Chawke delighted staff and customers alike when he came straight down to Adare the day after the Irish Pub Awards to congratulate them all. “He said well done to all the staff and said he is proud of everyone. You don’t win these awards without hard work and it’s nice when it pays off and it’s acknowledged.”

“When Charlie comes down he gives people time and would stand customers a drink and be interested in the local GAA. He’s a great man and it’s a pleasure to work for him,” exclaims Murnane.

Chawke has a long and high profile career in the pub trade. He grew up in Adare but the story goes that he moved to Dublin the day after he finished his Inter Cert and started working in the pub business, starting out in Davy Byrnes. Today he owns seven pubs in Dublin; Searson’s of Baggot Street, The Goat Bar, The Oval, The Old Orchard Inn, The Dropping Well, The Bank, and Lord Lucan and two in Adare.

Chawke is renowned across the county for being the victim of a shooting during a robbery in the Goat Inn in Dublin in 2003, and had to have his leg amputated as a result. Amazingly this horrifying event didn’t detract from him forging ahead with business and is a well-respected and admired member of the trade.

Part of history

In 2018, Chawke bought the Adare Court House next door to Aunty Lena’s and did a revamp of the whole interior. Externally they couldn’t touch it due to it being a listed building. When they were excavating they found some of the original cell keys that would have been used in the court house a couple of hundred years ago.

The court house has since moved to Limerick but there had been an active District Court in Adare until 2009 but it was derelict until 2018 when Chawke bought the site. “Charlie put a lot of money into it but it’s given back a lot. To make a pound, you have to spend a pound,” says Murnane. “Since that we do a lot of intimate weddings upstairs. The courthouse is still in the original style which is quite nice. We also get a lot of christenings, weddings and day two of weddings have become very popular too.”

Beautiful Adare

Adare is as picturesque a village as you are ever likely to see. It is also home to Bill Chawkes pub, Charlie’s second pub in Adare and named after Charlie’s father. Murnane says that Bill Chawkes is considered a real GAA pub and the heart of the community but it’s Aunty Lena’s that  draws the crowds from near and far due to its exceptional food business. “Aunty Lena’s is very food orientated and a gastro pub,” explains Murnane. “We try to source as much of our produce as possible from local farmers and producers to ensure that our food offering is fresh and seasonal.”

The bar menu includes a wide-ranging selection of whiskey, wines, and beers, including their own beers; Aunty Lena’s Pale Ale & Bill Chawke’s Legacy Lager.

“From about Paddy’s weekend up until October, it’s 90% tourists and mainly Americans and some Europeans. Then we get a lot of local trade in the winter,” explains Murnane.

“We’re lucky with our location as JP McManus’s manor is only up the road and we get a lot of corporate business from that and see a lot of famous faces from the racing industry like Ruby Walsh and Willie Mullins,” says Murnane.

Murnane hails from Six Mile Bridge in Co Clare but lives in Ennis and has been with the business for nearly two years but been in hospitality since he was in his teens. Prior to taking on the role in Aunty Lena’s he had worked with an outside catering company called Master Chefs, which ensured that he came to the business armed with a great knowledge of the food industry and has pushed this business in the right direction.

He believes that the thing that makes them stand out aside from the quality of the food offering is their customer service. “We do a meet and greet at the door so we welcome every customer. You are automatically related to that person as you are meeting and greeting and seating that person.”

“We are a stop off for Killarney, Kerry and Cork or if you are going the other way to matches in Dublin. In the last number of years, it has turned into a more gastro pub and restaurant. It is now 80% food and 20% drink. Years ago it was a mainly drinking bar,” he recalls.

“Our nighttime trade is improving as we have music, karaoke and table quizzes that brings a crowd in. If you have something on, you’ll have a full house and over the Christmas period we’ve had an unbelievable amount of Christmas parties. A lot of the clientele comes from Limerick as there is a good bus service in and out.”

Pub trade in the past year

Business has been brisk this year and they have found that at the end of 2023 food sales were up 23% compared with the previous year while drink sales were up 12%. “Year on year the pub is getting busier. We are utilising the extra courthouse space and bookings couldn’t be stronger. The phone is ringing off the hook,” says Murnane.

While busy is a great complaint is can be difficult to manage staff during those times. Murnane tells of how you have to live with the fact that you train young people up and then they leave to go travelling or back to college. “You can find  that you train staff up and then you find you are just a stepping stone as they go off to college and J1s so your hard work can be out the window. But that’s part of life and you have to accept it.”

Speaking about the rise in minimum wage, Murnane feels that it is necessary but it will have knock on effects across the economy. “Prices will have to rise to cover the costs. The standard of living is now very high. People do need that couple cents more and they deserve it. Even the weekly shop is €20 more now.”

So how does it feel to be managing the best pub in the country we asked him. “It’s a bit surreal when you say it out loud,” he laughs. “I wouldn’t be able to do it without Charlie and the staff. We’ll be in contention again as we are not going anywhere.” Now that’s fighting talk!