When a neighbourhood pub changes hands these days, there is always concern that it may be closed and transformed into apartments, or another commercial concern, denying the community a place to congregate, console and celebrate.
But the good news for denizens of Lower Salthill, a neighbourhood which once sported three public houses, recently reduced to one, is that newly sold PJ Flaherty’s should remain as a saloon bar.
First established in 1874, Flaherty’s – affectionately known as PJs – was sold last week to two businessmen with links to the locality for just shy of its €1.5 million guide price.
The property, on 82 Lower Salthill Road, comprises a lounge and back bar, beer garden, stores, a large, undeveloped area to its rear, and six first-floor apartments on a quarter acre site. It is two doors down from the former Cottage Bar, now The Continental short-let residences, and is less than 100m from Ward’s Hotel and Pub.
Sources close to the new owners say they intend to redevelop the property, likely for accommodation, but also continue its pub business on the ground floor. The new owners are messrs Neill Armstrong and Seamus Crowe.
Neill Armstrong, originally from Salthill, made his name in the water infrastructure and construction sectors in Britain, and in recent years has been associated with multi-million investments in hospitality and liquor distillation. In 2024, his plans for an eight-story, €40 million, carbon neutral hotel in Briarhill were rejected by An Bord Pleanála
His business partner and former professional footballer, Galway’s Seamus Crowe, played with Wolves, Newcastle United, Mervue United, Athenry and Longford Town. He is the founder of District Fitness and District Coffee, and is a co-owner of Murphy’s bar and restaurant in Athenry.
The well-regarded Flaherty family from Salthill first advertised the 152-year-old pub two years ago, and the sale was completed by Galway city auctioneers O’Donnellan and Joyce.
