14 months later than they’d planned, Yeats’ Local opens
A LONG anticipated opening day finally took place on Monday.
Yeats’ Local in Rathcormac welcomed customers to their outdoor area – 14 months after they had initially planned to open.
The pub’s plans were curtailed significantly by the Covid-19 pandemic but the optimism of the family behind the venture and the customers who want to experience it has kept the dream alive to ensure it opened for business this week.
Yeats’ Local is the venture of the Feeney family from Carney, consisting of Colm, Annette, Gary, Colm and Lauren.
Gary spoke to the Sligo Weekender about opening the decision to take over the running of the pub.
“Dad grew up about 500 feet from here. He spent his whole life in Rathcormac and our family home is in Carney. It is a special thing to take on a pub in the area, it isn’t a huge community, but it is one of those communities here where everyone knows everyone.”
“It’s a full family vcenture which is exciting. We all come from a certain area which we felt made sense to start a pub. Dad has a construction company, mum is into interior design and my brother and sister are used to managing and bartending in different bars over the years.”
It has been a slog towards getting the doors open as Gary reflected on the major obstacles thrown in their way just weeks ahead of their initial planned opening.
“If things had gone as we had planned we would have been open no later than Easter weekend of last year. “We are 14 months later than what we planned, it has been tough because we never could have expected what happened when we took this on. It has been a long road to actually getting
Yeats’ Local in Rathcormac,
the doors open and we are excited to have customers finally able to come and visit us.”
“We were thinking how unlucky could you get? But good things come to those who wait, we waited longer than we ever planned, but it gave us a chance to do more work and we are happy with where we are at now.” Yeats’ Local will provide both drinks and food. Dining is still a few weeks away but Gary gave some insight as to what visitors can expect when they are fully operational.
“For a while we are a going to be a straightforward ‘wet’ pub, but in a few weeks time it will be a gastro pub. We won’t do a huge menu, it is a simple but nice bar menu.
“We also hope people appreciate how we are approaching music with a view to a live performing area down the line.”
Sligo has earned a reputation as a good food destination, with locals willing to travel near and far to try the offerings of different establishments. This is something Gary and the family are very optimistic about as they have received a lot of goodwill from both the local community and further afield.
“There is a lot of excitement in the community and beyond which is amazing and that kept us going. People in Sligo are great for supporting a place, if it is worth going to they will travel. Everyone we talk to is excited, while we go into this without a clientele the interest is there which we are very thankful for.
“We are a local pub but we don’t have regulars yet and hopefully the people who enjoyed the old place will become regulars here again.”
Gary’s view on life is very much glass half full and that optimism carries over into his vision for the future as Ireland looks to slowly but surely move on from large scale lockdowns. “I think we are passing the worst of the pandemic. My optimism probably feeds into that but the vaccine rollout is going very well, Sligo has managed really well the last few months and people are generally very good of keeping themselves and others safe by following any guidelines in place. The winter can obviously be a bit tricky but hopefully by then people in their twenties will mostly have been vaccinated by then.”
Yeats’ Local is true to it’s name – it is the very definition of a local in a community the size of Rathcormac.
The Feeney family have renovated the premises and the people are only starting to come but there is great hope that the place of the local pub in the community has not been lost.
“The pub is the heart of a lot of communities, it is where friends and neighbours usually gather for a chat. “That was taken away from them for over a year, we have all been through hardship but hopefully that can become the normal thing again in the months ahead and we can start really looking forward to some good times again.”