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| Francis Brennan with Jonathan Keogh and Hideout manager Martin Lambe. |
Exactly 21 years to the day after the Byrne family left The Hideout having been proprietors of the business since December 1925, it was officially reopened last night,
writes Brian Byrne.
A large gathering of local people, friends and neighbours of both the Byrne family and new owner Jonathan Keogh, came along to wish Jonathan well in this latest chapter of a story that began with the building of a hotel on the site in 1855.
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| Josephine Byrne with Martin Lambe. |
Among them was Josephine Byrne, wife of the late Des, both of whom operated the business from the late 1970s. Coincidentally, she and Des and other members of the Byrne family spent their last evening there on 4 December 1996, following its sale.
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| Francis Brennan serves goodies. |
As the major renovations of the pub and restaurant is to be an 'At Your Service' episode on RTE 1, presenter of the programme series Francis Brennan was on hand to wish Jonathan and his team the best with the enterprise.
Another element of continuity was the presence of Billy Dowling behind the bar, as his father Billy was a mainstay employee of three generations of the Byrne family for over five decades.
All there for the event were positive about what Jonathan has done, and agreed that it was an apt and lovely evening.
All the
pictures by Noel Clare can be seen here.
(The Diary would like to say a big thanks to Noel for covering several important events these few days while your editor was away; and also to Pat Foley for the Seniors Christmas Party pictures.)
