The company is to invest more than €1.5m developing the former Newport Cafe in Paul Street Plaza, Cork.
The site, which is currently shut, will require both planning and licensing permission. At present there are no on site or opening dates, however, the group aims to have the new-look pub open by April 2014.
Wetherspoon founder and chairman Tim Martin said: “I am delighted that we have secured our first pub in Cork and our second in the Republic of Ireland. We are looking at other sites throughout the Republic of Ireland and hopefully they will come to fruition in the near future.”
The company is believed to have held talks to buy the Slaughtered Lamb in Swords, north Dublin, in a deal that could be worth up to €2m.
Last month, the company confirmed that it had secured its first pub in the Republic, the Tonic Bar in Temple Road, Blackrock.