Southport BID feature by Stand Up For Southport
A brand new authentic Irish bar will open its doors in Southport this Friday! (11th August 2023).
The Auld Dubliner will give a warm Irish welcome to its first customers with a special evening taking place from 7pm until midnight.
Visitors will be able to take a first look inside the restored 19th Century venue, and savour a pint of Guinness, beer, or one of 40 different whiskies on offer.
They will also be able to enjoy live music from 8pm onwards from Spencer Chaplin, who is travelling from London for the grand opening night.
The timing is perfect, just before an estimated 55,000 visitors arrive in town for the 2023 Southport Flower Show, which takes place at Victoria Park from 17th-20th August.
The bar is right at the heart of Southport town centre, in the former Thomas Cook unit at 225-227 Lord Street, between Starbucks coffee shop and Lavish Homes.
The new Guinness beer garden outside will allow people to soak up the sunshine and take in some of the best views in town.
Inside are loads of nostalgic pictures, mirrors and other decorations which gives the pub a warm and homely feel.
The Auld Dubliner pub on Lord Street in Southport. Photo by Andrew Brown Stand up For Southport
The new venture has seen the creation of 10 new jobs and breathed new life into an historic Grade II Listed building within a group from 221 – 233 which were built during the Victorian era between around 1860 and 1890.
Support for the new venture has come through the Southport Townscape Heritage Project and Heritage Lottery funding.
Opening hours will be 11am-11am during the week, and 11am-midnight on Fridays, Saturdays and bank holiday weekends.
The Auld Dubliner owner Carl White is looking forward to seeing the first customers arriving this weekend.
He said: “We are opening an authentic Irish bar, with great live music, which will be screening live sports including Premier League football, racing and more.
“The prices will be competitive for Southport with a great choice of main brands including Guinness, Carling, Madri, and a choice of 40 different whiskies.
“We are creating 10 new jobs and are carrying out staff training this Thursday and Friday ahead of opening at 7pm this Friday.
“Everyone is welcome to come down, have a look and enjoy a night of great live music from Spencer Chaplin, who is travelling up from London for the weekend to entertain everyone.
“Come down and enjoy it!
The Auld Dubliner pub on Lord Street in Southport. Photo by Andrew Brown Stand up For Southport
“We’re glad to be opening in time for this year’s Southport Flower Show, when the town will be really busy. We hope people going to the Show will drop by.
“We are not serving food here, this will be a wet-led pub.
“It is an authentic Irish bar. We are not trying to reinvent the wheel, just keeping it classic and simple.
“The Auld Dubliner is in a fantastic location! It couldn’t be more central, right at the heart of Southport.
“We will have a Guinness beer garden outside which is going to look really good.
“People will be able to sit outside, relax and enjoy some of the best views in Southport, looking out across Lord Street and over towards The Atkinson and the Town Hall Gardens.
“It will be a beautiful place to sit out.”
The new bar is an impressive transformation of the former Thomas Cook shop.
The site has sat empty and in a poor state since it was one of more than 600 Thomas Cook outlets which were closed in 2019 when the company collapsed.
The plans for the transformation were drawn up by RAL Architects in Southport.
In the submission, RAL Architects owner Rob Anderson said: “Lord street is becoming an area for leisure rather than retail and this proposal will make a positive contribution to the character and appearance of the Listed Building.”
Carl White said: “It is unbelievable the changes we have made to this place. We have really transformed it.
“We have enjoyed support from the Southport Townscape Heritage Project and Heritage Lottery funding to get this building renovated.
“We wanted to give it a really classic look in keeping with how this building may have looked 100 years ago.
“It is a really prominent building right in the centre of Southport so it’s good that we have been able to restore it and breathe new life into it after it sat empty for so long.
“It is adding real value and helping to make Lord Street so much better.
“We hope it’s here for a long time to come.”
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