JDW to invest €33.4m into new site – largest investment in company’s history

03-Aug-2021 - Last updated on 04-Aug-2021 at 09:48 GMT

Cash injection: the investment into the Dublin site is the largest in JD Wetherspoon's four-decade long history

Pub group JD Wetherspoon (JDW) has pumped €27.4m into developing a site in Dublin, alongside a further €6m on the purchase of the pub – totalling the equivalent of about £28m.

The investment is the single largest in the firm’s 41-year history. Some 200 full and part-time staff will be employed at the 89-bedroom venue, called Keavan’s Port.

The pub was previously a series of eight Georgian townhouses (seven are protected), a chapel and added an extension including a 12-metre high glazed atrium.

The site spans 9,000sq ft of space, across two floors as well as a 3,800sq ft garden over two enclosed courtyards.

Pub history

All 89 bedrooms will have en-suite bathrooms and the pub will also house accessible bedrooms, catering for guests with disabilities, including wet room facilities.

Keavan’s Port is located on Camden Street Upper and Lower in the city and the local social history provides inspiration for the bespoke designed carpets throughout, reflecting a time when kilims and rugs were signs of wealth, brought back from travels or imported from overseas.

Furthermore, the garden aims to reflect the original individual properties, designed to evoke once-linked residential gardens.

Specialist contractors and joiners worked on installing new windows and the roof has been reinstated with Welsh Bangor blue slates.

Great asset

While the rear extension has been constructed, inside the existing premises, specialists have worked to repair original stairs and replace like-for-like, those beyond repair.

Ceiling coving has been made and replaced while further structural repairs and plastering work has been carried out in a bid to keep the historic aspects of the site.

The main bar area also gives a nod to the venue’s stained-glass artwork history within the back bar and the framework details. Reclaimed stonework, decorative windows and furniture are also incorporated in the design.

JDW chief executive John Hutson said: “We’re delighted to have completed the development of Keavan’s Port.

“We believe the pub and hotel will be a great asset to Dublin and will hopefully act as a catalyst for other businesses to invest in the city.”