Local man Richie Westman is opening a new pub, Chamber Lane, on O’Connell Square Mountmellick.
Chamber Lane is operating out of where Butch’s Bar was located, and Richie is looking forward to bring his vision of the, “newest, traditional-feeling bar” to his home town.
Despite being relatively young, Richie has a wealth of experience underneath his belt. He started working in The Druid Inn when he was 14 and spent six years there before pursuing a Business Management from GMIT in 2013.
He finished his degree in 2016 and began working in the popular Portlaoise bar and live music venue Manhattan Mixer, where he soon moved into a management position.
Richie said that going out on his own to his own bar is something he’s always wanted to do.
“It’s an itch I’ve wanted to scratch for so long. Now at 25 I just think it’s the right thing to do, if I don’t do it now I’ve never do it,” he said.
A new, authentic bar
Chamber Lane will have a few changes in the layout from the days of Butch’s Bar. Butch’s used to have a huge open smoking area, something which Richie has decided to turn into a lounge area.
“The vision is that we want to be Mountmellick’s newest old-feeling bar. We’ve installed stoves and the main mirror here is over 100 years old.
“The bar counter is taken out of Kavanagh’s in Dublin and there was names signed on the back of it with dates from 1962 – that’s character you can’t just buy,” said Richie.
The name ‘Chamber Lane’ even adds character to the building itself – as that was what the College Avenue estate beside the premises used to be called.
There are currently six local employees working in Chamber Lane, something which Richie feels is important to have.
“It is important to me to try keep everything local. The lads doing the construction work are all local and I want to keep the familiarity to it. If you come in here, I want it to be a face you know serving you and hopefully that will pay off in the long run.
Although there are many pubs in Mountmellick, Richie also believes there is room for a new bar in the town. “I’ve grown up here and there’s many great bars in town. Every bar in Mountmellick is uniquely different and they have their own character.
“I just thought that I’d love to bring my ideas into a bar on my own terms and there is a gap in the market here for something fresh,” he said.
Richie has a background in mixology – mixing cocktail recipes – and wants to add a unique cocktail selection to the menu.
“We’re going to do cocktails but healthier. The purees that we’re going to use are 90 percent fruit, in comparison to other purees which are 80 percent sugar.
“You could even put them into diet plans,” he laughed.
Richie also hopes to have live music every Friday and Saturday nights, and maybe even encourage a few customers to get involved in Open Mic nights.
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