The 4th of June this year marks the 16th anniversary of the day Paddy’s Point first opened its doors. Founders Bernie and Pamela Comaskey sensed an opportunity during a trip to the area in search for a holiday home in 1999 and the ‘Paddy’s Point idea’ was born!
Over the years the pub has seen many changes. Bernie quickly extended the business with the addition of the original lounge and many of our long term customers will remember the L shape and the big cozy corner where many a great story started! Only a couple of years later the lounge was relocated to where it is today and the old lounge became Zest restaurant.
From the very early days Paddy’s became well known for both live music and live sport. In fact, back in the beginning it was the only place around showing the GAA and quickly got the name as being “the place” to watch all the games.
As the area grew and expanded over the years so too did the competition and although Paddy’s laid claim to the title of ‘The First Irish Pub’ in the vicinity soon there were any number of places to catch a game or enjoy a night of live music in other authentic Irish bars around. However, the new additions only added to the area, although initially I am sure there were fears there wouldn’t be ‘enough to go around’. There was no need for worry. Today we are very lucky to have lovely neighbours and to be surrounded by other fantastic successful businesses.
While much changed over the years at the same time many things also remained constant. The staff being the big one. Rory arrived in Paddy’s in April 2000, having spotted Bernie’s advertisement for a bar man in The Evening Hearald. He literally worked his way through the ranks and in 2008 he and I leased the business from Bernie and Pamela and then in 2012 they sold Paddy’s Point to us freehold.
To me, that in itself is an exceptional story, but add to that that our general manager Marie Chapman has been working alongside Rory for 14 years now, our bar manager Alan Condron made his debut at just 16 years old and has been involved in the pub for over 11 years while supervisor Ciara O’Brien will be celebrating her Paddy’s Point 11 year anniversary next week! These guys are the backbone of a fantastic team and an integral part of the business. Several of our other staff have been with us for over five years – including three of our kitchen team – Danielle, Ann and Barry who have worked through us knocking down and re-building several kitchens and who have had a huge part to play in the success of our bar food menu and who are now enjoying running our new, state of the art kitchen. I won’t say any more or they will all be looking for a pay rise, but we really do value each and every one of our team and we realise how blessed we are to have them all.
Today, Rory and I are proud to call Paddy’s Point ours. We are proud of the friendly welcoming vibe of the place, of the fact that it has become a ‘home from home’ for so many and we are also proud of the job everyone does here. We don’t forget how we started out and to this day Rory is at his happiest pulling a pint and I’m at mine running up and down the terrace serving tables.
So Happy Birthday Paddy’s Point, we will raise a glass on Thursday and look forward to the next 16 years.
God Bless,
Hazel
Over the years the pub has seen many changes. Bernie quickly extended the business with the addition of the original lounge and many of our long term customers will remember the L shape and the big cozy corner where many a great story started! Only a couple of years later the lounge was relocated to where it is today and the old lounge became Zest restaurant.
From the very early days Paddy’s became well known for both live music and live sport. In fact, back in the beginning it was the only place around showing the GAA and quickly got the name as being “the place” to watch all the games.
As the area grew and expanded over the years so too did the competition and although Paddy’s laid claim to the title of ‘The First Irish Pub’ in the vicinity soon there were any number of places to catch a game or enjoy a night of live music in other authentic Irish bars around. However, the new additions only added to the area, although initially I am sure there were fears there wouldn’t be ‘enough to go around’. There was no need for worry. Today we are very lucky to have lovely neighbours and to be surrounded by other fantastic successful businesses.
While much changed over the years at the same time many things also remained constant. The staff being the big one. Rory arrived in Paddy’s in April 2000, having spotted Bernie’s advertisement for a bar man in The Evening Hearald. He literally worked his way through the ranks and in 2008 he and I leased the business from Bernie and Pamela and then in 2012 they sold Paddy’s Point to us freehold.
To me, that in itself is an exceptional story, but add to that that our general manager Marie Chapman has been working alongside Rory for 14 years now, our bar manager Alan Condron made his debut at just 16 years old and has been involved in the pub for over 11 years while supervisor Ciara O’Brien will be celebrating her Paddy’s Point 11 year anniversary next week! These guys are the backbone of a fantastic team and an integral part of the business. Several of our other staff have been with us for over five years – including three of our kitchen team – Danielle, Ann and Barry who have worked through us knocking down and re-building several kitchens and who have had a huge part to play in the success of our bar food menu and who are now enjoying running our new, state of the art kitchen. I won’t say any more or they will all be looking for a pay rise, but we really do value each and every one of our team and we realise how blessed we are to have them all.
Today, Rory and I are proud to call Paddy’s Point ours. We are proud of the friendly welcoming vibe of the place, of the fact that it has become a ‘home from home’ for so many and we are also proud of the job everyone does here. We don’t forget how we started out and to this day Rory is at his happiest pulling a pint and I’m at mine running up and down the terrace serving tables.
So Happy Birthday Paddy’s Point, we will raise a glass on Thursday and look forward to the next 16 years.
God Bless,
Hazel
