The Ivy House and site in Drumcondra on the market in lots for €3.25m

The more valuable lot is the pub itself and an adjoining retail premises for which Lisney is guiding in excess of €2,850,000. It includes the detached three-storey over-basement pub premises which has an imposing red-brick structure and 17.8 metres of frontage onto Drumcondra Road, located directly opposite the Skylon Hotel and close to DCU’s Drumcondra campus.

Its lounge bar and public bar are located at ground floor level while the two upstairs floors are allocated to toilets, offices and storage.

Sitting on a 0.13-acre site, this lot also comes with an expired planning permission for the amalgamation of two adjoining retail units into the licensed premises footprint to provide new bar and lounge areas. This section enjoys the benefit of an enclosed rear yard/beer garden with gated access to the side and rear service laneway.

To the rear of that property is the second lot comprising a 0.17-acre site containing a disused residence and a semi-detached warehouse property. It has a €400,000-plus guide price.

Rory Browne of Lisney, who is handling the sale, says this lot offers potential for either independent use or for incorporation into the licensed premises offering for the provision of beer garden and outdoor dining services. Both lots are accessible by a side lane. The third lot is the combination of the first two lots.

Operated by the Carthy family for three generations since 1913, in recent times the business has been repositioned away from late night entertainment-driven trade to a more traditionally focused food and beverage offering which has witnessed steady growth since launching in early 2023. During its music nights, the live bands which performed there included The Script.

The pub is also associated with John F Kennedy’s visit to Ireland in 1963. At dinner with President Éamon de Valera in the Áras, some of the Kennedy sisters expressed an interest in visiting a real Irish bar.

So then Fianna Fáil ministers Charlie Haughey, Jack Lynch and Paddy Hillery volunteered to escort them to The Ivy House. However one of the sisters, Eunice Shriver, told one of the bar men she thought the pub was a little luxurious.