Horan family call time as they celebrate their retirement from pub

AFTER more than three decades behind the bar, pulling pints and having the craic with their customers, Eamon and Maree Horan have just called time on their careers as publicans.

Last week, the couple who have ran Horan’s Bar and Restaurant on Main Street, Baltinglass, hosted the party to end all parties, to say goodbye to their many loyal customers and to thank them for their support over the past 33 years of business.

“We always had great support from the community here and we supported many local clubs like the GAA and the soccer club. We tried to make the place lovely and friendly for everyone, that they’d feel at home here. That a lot to do with it. We pride ourselves in our hospitality,” Eamon told The Nationalist.

He and Maree were only in their mid 20s when they brought the pub in 1992 from Tommy Doyle, whose family had owned the business for four generations. Eamon had experience in the hospitality industry as he’d already leased a pub in Naas and wanted to run his own business so he took the leap into buying his own premises while Maree gave up a job in insurance to join him in their big adventure.

Back then, the premises featured a bar and lounge with a function room that served a venue out the back. Upstairs, there were living quarters where the couple lived with their four children, from the time they were new-borns up to when the family moved to a bigger home in 2002. It’s no wonder, then, that the four Horan children – Jerry, Eamon, Niamh and Anna – all took a small memento each from the pub, bringing a little bit of their childhood with them before it changed hands into the new owners.

The four Horan children would have worked in the bar when they were younger and it’s with a matter of pride for the family that countless young people would have had their first job as students working with Eamon and Maree.

“Hundreds of young people worked here over the years. I think they get a great grounding out of it. It taught them how to work hard,” Eamon smiled.

“We’d like to thank our current staff who are part of our extended family who will keep the hospitality ethos alive. Thanks, too, to the many staff who we trained and worked with over the years. It’s great to see them now with their own families and their own careers,” he added.

It’s tricky keeping a family business going for decades, let alone one in the pub trade given the trend of pub closures in recent years but Eamon and Maree not only kept their head above water, they grew their business into what it is today. They reckon that the secret to their success was to keep moving with the times and making the appropriate changes and additions as they went along - such as transforming a small nightclub into a hip restaurant complete with wood fired pizza.

“We saw patterns changing over the years as to what people wanted. We always tried to keep the place relevant and so now, food is a big thing for us. It’s a significant part of our business,” added Eamon.

Thankfully, the pub isn’t closing with the new owners taking charge of the business the day after Eamon and Maree’s farewell shindig.

“We wish the best of luck to Jason and Billy and their families as the new owners and operators of the pub,” he continued.

Eamon and Maree’s last night at the party was full of memories and fun for them as they celebrated with their customers but it was also tinged with a little bit of sadness, too, because it was truly the end of an era for them.

“Yes, we’re a little bit sad, leaving what we’re built up here. We’ve made great friends and had so many lovely customers. We’ll miss the camaraderie, the banter but we’re also looking forward to a new chapter in our lives. We’re young enough to be able to do all the things, like travelling and going to concerts, that we couldn’t do when we had the pub.

“This will also be our first Christmas at home together where we don’t have to work. I’m really looking forward to that,” smiled Eamon.