- Wexford celebrates as The Porter House, Castlebridge wins Pub of the Year 2017
- The Irish Pub Awards recognise the best in class nationally
- Eight category winners are awarded across seven counties in Ireland
The Porter House, based in Castlebridge, Co Wexford, has won the overall Irish Pub Awards National Irish Pub of the Year 2017. The Wexford pub was crowned national champion after winning the Best Local Pub, one of eight categories announced at last night’s awards.
The Awards were presented by Minister of State for Tourism and Sport, Brendan Griffin T.D., at the Gala Ceremony in the RDS Concert Hall on 8 November 2017. The winners were selected from over 500 applications in this joint national awards programme which is presented by the Vintners Federation of Ireland (VFI) and the Licensed Vintners Association (LVA).
The Porter House, based in Castlebridge, Co Wexford, is owned by Castlebridge native Myles Doyle and his wife Sharon. The pub, which employs ten staff, completed a major redevelopment in 2015. Although the Porter House is a traditional old-style pub with deep roots in the local community through local sponsorships and the work it does in raising funds for charities, it is also constantly innovating and is focused on its customer’s changing needs. The pub has recently introduced a specialised gin menu, local craft beers and a new premium whiskey offering.
The Irish Pub Awards eight category winners are:
Innovative Pub of the Year The Roadside Tavern, Lisdoonvarna, Co. Clare
Best Music Pub Matt The Millers, Kilkenny City
Best Outdoor Space The Terrace at Dinn Rí, Co. Carlow
Outstanding Customer Service The Bog Road, Portlaoise, Co Laois
Best Tourist Pub The Stag’s Head, Dublin
Pub Personality of the Year Johnny Quilty – The Goat Bar & Grill, Clonskeagh, Dublin
Best Local Pub The Porter House, Castlebridge, Co. Wexford
Best Food Pub Mickey Finn’s, Redcross, Co. Wicklow
At the inaugural Irish Pub Awards, Pat Crotty, VFI President said “The Porter House is a great representation of what the Irish Pub is all about, a place to meet family and friends, enjoy great food, listen to music and be entertained or just spend quality time away from the stresses and strains of everyday life. We are delighted that tonight, as an industry we have been able to showcase the best that our Irish Pubs have to offer in terms of creativity, innovation and excellence. The pub offering has changed dramatically in the past decade. Publicans have responded to changing consumer demands and we have seen this tonight in what our pubs are now offering in terms of excellent casual dining, contemporary beers and spirits, tourist attractions and overall entertainment to suit all types of customer”.
LVA Chairman John Gleeson who also presented the awards on the night said, “We are very pleased with the success of our first awards programme. These awards will now be recognised as the definitive awards programme within the industry as it is set up to reward all pub sectors right throughout the country. There is great value for pubs entering the awards in terms of excellent national and local media coverage along with the in-depth management training our 56 regional winners receive. We are delighted to have come together with the VFI on this great initiative.
The award categories are sponsored by Bank of Ireland Payment Acceptance, Bulmers, Diageo, Heineken, IMRO. Irish Distillers Pernod Ricard, Molson Coors and Musgrave Marketplace. Media Partner is Irish Independent and online trade media partner is Drinks Industry Ireland. Skillnets is the management development partner.
