New name for five pub group is “Grand Slam Bars” 

The renowned Ranelagh pub, McSorley’s, has been purchased by the team behind Lemon & Duke and The Bridge 1859 for a sum of €5.5 million.  

McSorley’s will join Lemon & Duke, The Bridge 1859, The Blackrock and Little Lemon in the pub group, which will now be known as “Grand Slam Bars”. The group is owned by Noel Anderson, former Chair of the Licensed Vintners Association (LVA), along with former Irish international rugby players Jamie Heaslip, Dave Kearney, Rob Kearney and Sean O’Brien.   

A total of 25 members of staff work in McSorley’s, bringing total employment across the Grand Slam Bars to over 200.  

Finance for the purchase was provided by AIB, while Rory Browne of Lisney Commercial Real Estate acted as agent for the deal.   

McSorley’s remains open and the group plans to maintain many of the established features that have made the Ranelagh pub such a popular spot, including the Thursday night pub quiz and a DJ set every Friday and Saturday night from 10pm.  

In the coming months they also hope to add an extensive cocktail menu to the venue, continuing the success they have had with this feature in the group’s other venues. Building on McSorley’s popularity with rugby fans and in a nod towards “Grand Slam Bars” own rugby heritage, the group is also planning some special events in the Ranelagh venue around the Autumn Internationals and next year’s Six Nations.

Speaking about the acquisition, Noel Anderson, Group Managing Director of Grand Slam Bars said:

We are deeply honoured to be taking over as custodians of McSorley’s, one of the great suburban pubs of Dublin. We understand what McSorley’s means to its customers, and the special place it occupies in Ranelagh and beyond. We fully intend to maintain that, to keep the special heart and soul of McSorley’s intact. So we can assure customers there won’t be any major changes taking place. You don’t need to fix what certainly isn’t broken.  

McSorley’s will remain open and will keep delivering the special atmosphere it has provided for the last 19 years. That means there will still be pub quizzes on Thursday nights and a DJ set on Fridays and Saturdays. Over time, we hope to add one or two touches that will further enhance the customer experience, such as a new cocktail menu, a feature that has proven successful in our other venues.  

McSorley’s is also a popular venue with rugby fans and we hope to develop some additional rugby features, drawing on our own sporting heritage in Grand Slam Bars to organise some special events around the upcoming internationals in the autumn and the next Six Nations.  

On behalf of the group, we would also like to thank the Murray Family and all the team who have made McSorley’s such a special pub. We look forward to continuing that excellent legacy, maintaining McSorley’s as one of the best places to socialise in South Dublin. 

This also feels like an appropriate time to announce the new name for our group, Grand Slam Bars. As we have been able to grow, adding new venues and people to the team, we want to ensure the same values of strong service, superior delivery and a dynamic approach are maintained across the group. Consistency is easier to maintain when we are all working under the same banner. We also wanted a name that drew on the amazing sporting success of our directors, well at least 4 of them. So from here on we’ll be collectively known as Grand Slam Bars, a pub group that we are delighted to say has already scored bonus points through our ownership of The Bridge 1859, Lemon & Duke, The Blackrock, Little Lemon and now McSorley’s.