Having just opened its first Irish pub in Blackrock, Dublin, JD Wetherspoon is now reportedly eyeing up a property in Dublin city centre.
JD Wetherspoon is apparently considering buying The Church on the corner of Mary street and Jervis street.
Saint Mary's Church was completed in 1702, deconsecrated in the 1980s and was bought in 1997 by John Keating who restored it and converted it into a pub. It is currently operating as The Church bar and restaurant under the ownership of Brendan Flynn.
Ironically, Arthur Guinness was married in the church in 1761 but Wetherspoon's is not planning on stocking Guinness in its Irish establishments, due to a pricing dispute with Diageo. Other famous parishioners include Sean O'Casey and Theobald Wolfe Tone.
The first Irish Wetherspoon's, the Three Tun Tavern, opened in Blackrock in July and Wetherspoon's has also purchased pubs in Dún Laoghaire, Swords and Cork. It does not comment on individual pubs but it has said that it plans to open around 30 pubs throughout Ireland in the next few years. According to The Irish Times, a Wetherspoon's spokesman also said that The Church offered "traditional Irish hospitality".
