Hairs stood on the back of Joe Gregg’s neck the second he walked into Bradley’s Bar in Labane, Ardrahan for the first time last autumn; instantly, he knew he wanted to buy it.

The sixty-year-old nodded approvingly to Noel, a brother two years his senior, who accompanied him on the drive to South Galway from their native South Inner-City Dublin to view the property on the morning of the second Wednesday in October.

Joe then turned to Colum Farrell and said, “we’re having this place” – less than 24-hours after the Gort-based auctioneer had texted him the property details and Eircode.

“Is the owner far away? You better get her down here we need to shake her hand quick,” he said to Colum Farrell.

The deal was sealed faster than it takes a pint of porter to settle.

“We put four whiskeys on the bar counter. I told her why I was buying the pub; we agreed on a price and shook on the deal. I had a deposit in their bank account the next day,” recalled Joe.

The new proprietor moved in on December 13, a Friday – “it wasn’t unlucky for us”, insisted Joe – and he’s having an official relaunch party this coming Saturday, March 8.

Joe Gregg had been in the market for a rural Irish pub to retire in for four years without much success.

But a framed Connacht Tribune article that has pride of place on the wall of the Farmer’s Bar in Bradley’s Bar was what convinced him to move quick to seal the sale.

The feature, penned by sports editor John McIntyre, documented the homecoming of one of Ardrahan’s finest – jockey Paddy Brennan – who returned to a hero’s welcome in the village after steering Imperial Commander to Gold Cup success in Cheltenham in 2010.

“Paddy Brennan is my sporting hero. I followed his career from 2000 – he’s a legend. I’m a gambler, National Hunt horseracing is my specialty, and when he won the Gold Cup, I won a fortune on Imperial Commander. I didn’t know Labane was part of Ardrahan. The significance of it,” he said.

Caption: Dara Bradley of The Connacht Tribune sitting in what’s known as the ‘Dossers Corner’ of the Farmers’ Bar area of Bradley’s Bar in Labane, sampling a pint of plain poured by new owners, brothers Joe and Noel Gregg, ahead of its re-launch event this Saturday evening, March 8.

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