Visit to delaneys a must for the best burger
FANCY pasta and a pint? Or maybe some wholemeal brown bread with linseed? Well, the in-place to visit in Ballyhaunis is Delaney’s Pub on Bridge Street.
For years the premises, opposite the post office and The Gem, was one of the busiest in town. Now the emphasis is on fine food, though you can still have a pint to wash it down.
Dubliner Anne McNamara, her sister-in-law Fiona McNamara and neighbour from Brackloon North, Martina Squires, have been running the outlet since March, writes Tom Gillespie.
Anne takes up the story: “I started working here about a year-and-a-half ago when it was owned by Delaneys. One of the girls, Marie Nolan, went on maternity leave and I filled in. The pub was up for sale and Stephen and Nuala Nolan bought it. They also have MacSuirtains pub.
“We stayed on but Stephen and Nuala decided they wanted to lease it. So myself and Fiona decided we would give it a try. We are here since March and so far, it is going good.”
She explained: “We are going away from the pub side and much more into food. We do breakfasts, burgers, wraps, baps, baked potatoes, lasagne and quiches. We have a varied menu. What we don’t do is spuds, two veg and meat, because we have quite a small kitchen so we are limited. But you will get a good feed.”
The premises is open Monday to Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Anne has been resident in Ballyhaunis with her husband, Sean, a local man, for the past 20 years. “I love Ballyhaunis,” she explained. “I would not go back to Dublin in a fit. It is a different way of life down here, much more easy going.
“I bake breads - a lovely wholemeal brown bread with linseed in it. It is really popular. Every couple of weeks we do a charity event where we make muffins, sell them, and all the money goes to a charity.”
When I spoke to Anne she was doing her fourth charity morning. She said: “For the first one I made 511 muffins and we raised about €2,500. The muffins were sold out by lunchtime. This morning I have 100 baked. The proceeds are going to the Mighty Matthew charity for a 16-year-old boy who is severely autistic and is in need of 24-hour care.
“In the future we hope to extend the food side into doing more cakes and bread. The pub is still staying. It is still licenced. You can have a pint and a bun if you like. You don’t get many bars where you have breads and cakes.
“A lot of the businesses in town support us. We have a lot of regulars. They are very loyal. We are getting a lot of passing trade and since we painted the front and put in flowers you can see it is a food place, not just a bar.”
Anne adds proudly: “We do a great burger. We get them from Paddy Philips, the local butcher up the street. They are 100% Irish beef. It goes down a treat. You won’t get a better burger in town. Every Friday we do a special, a pasta bake or a savoury mince with new potatoes.”
Do you have a story to tell about your business? If so, Tom Gillespie would be delighted to hear from you. Get in touch at (087) 9680780 or gillespietom49@gmail.com.