Pub operator JD Wetherspoon opens its new pub in Blanchardstown on June 30, with the creation of 120 new jobs. The company already runs two pubs in the area: The Three Tun Tavern in Carysfort Avenue, Blackrock and The Forty Foot in The Pavilion Centre, Marine Road, Dun Laoghaire.
The company has spent £2.82 million (€3.87 million) developing the outlet, on the site of the former Light Nightclub, in Westend Shopping Park, Westend Commercial Village, and the pub, which will be called The Great Wood, will be managed by George Collins.
The new-look pub, which is on two floors, will feature two bars, as well as two meeting rooms. There is a beer garden to the front and side of the pub, where smoking will be permitted in a designated area.
Local history
Much of the present-day area of Blanchardstown and Coolmine was once covered by an ancient forest, known as the Great Scaldwood. This dense wood was home to wolves and wild boar, hunted by the local gentry. By 1652, wolves inhabited the wood in such numbers that the authorities ordered a cull to protect livestock. Only tiny fragments of this once ‘great wood’ have survived.
Historical photos, details of local history, information relating to events, historical buildings and characters of the area, as well as artwork by local artists are all on display.
Commissioned artwork includes those by artists Bernadette Madden and Claire Norrington, together with original artworks by Caroline Donahue, Niamh MacGowan, John Campion and Nick Miller.
The new pub will be open from 8am (licenced from 10.30am Monday to Saturday) until 11.30pm Monday to Thursday, 8am until 12.30am on Friday and Saturday and 8am (licenced from 12.30pm) until 11pm on Sunday. Food served throughout the day, from opening until 11pm, every day.
The Great Wood will specialise in real ales, as well as craft and world beers, serving a wide range of different draught ales, as well as bottled beers, including those from local and regional brewers.
It will be open for family dining, with children, accompanied by an adult, welcome in the pub up until 9pm, throughout the week.
The pub will be wheelchair accessible and have a specially-adapted toilet for people with disabilities.
