The firm that runs Ireland's 'most photographed pub' pulled a €4m profit last year

The Temple Bar’s owners enjoyed a strong performance thanks to buoyant retail trade.

By Conor McMahon Deputy editor, Fora

THE COMPANY BEHIND the Temple Bar, one of Ireland’s most famous pubs, made an operating profit of nearly €4 million last year.

According to accounts filed for Temple Inns Ltd, which owns the well-known watering hole, the company and its subsidiaries reported an operating profit of €3.8 million for the financial year ended 31 October 2016. That’s an increase of about 15% on the previous 12-month period.

Gross profits including other operating income increased by €1.5 million to €10.3 million last year.

The company’s two directors – Tom and Jackie Cleary, who have an address in the prestigious Ailesbury Road area of Donnybrook – were each paid a dividend of €100,000.

Retail trade

According to the directors’ report, the company owed its strong performance last year to its booming retail trade.

As well as keeping the drinks flowing in the Temple Bar, Temple Inns also operates a whiskey shop called the Distillery Store and a merchandise store where visitors can buy souvenir T-shirts.

Located in the heart of Dublin city’s cultural quarters, the Temple Bar is a popular tourist attraction with at least three traditional music sessions every day of the week.

A number of celebrities have darkened the doors of the 170-year-old pub, including pop singer Beyoncé, who popped in for an Irish coffee when she played a concert in Dublin in 2014.

Travel bible Lonely Planet described the Temple Bar as “the most photographed pub facade in Dublin, perhaps the world”.

“The Temple Bar (aka Flannery’s) is smack bang in the middle of the tourist precinct and is usually chock-a-block with visitors,” it said. “It’s good craic, though, and presses all the right buttons.”

The company’s freehold land and buildings were valued at more than €14 million, according to the latest accounts, while it had outstanding bank loans worth in excess of €13 million.

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