My Limerick Story of the Year - locals saving their County Limerick village pub goes global

THERE’S a saying in this business that some stories have “legs” and this one was a millipede.

A story about 25 men, and one woman, joining together to invest €300,000 to keep the doors of their pub in Kilteely open was given a page 1 ‘splash’ in August.

The headline read: “Gin and ‘tonic’ for Limerick parish as locals join together to save their pub”.

When Ahern’s pub came on the market in 2025, there were initial fears that it spelled the end for the well-known licensed premises. Limerick has the highest pub closure rate in Ireland with 178 fewer pubs than in 2005.

However, the group put their heads, and wallets, together to ensure it remained as a public house - The Street Bar.

After the story appeared in the Leader and on Limerick Live it was picked up on in Dublin and appeared in practically every national newspaper with a number of front pages. RTE and Virgin Media reporters and cameramen followed suit.

It even made headlines across the water as The Guardian’s Ireland correspondent Rory Carroll and photographer Johnny Savage took the well trodden media path to Kilteely.

The pub’s 26 saviours are drawn from all walks of life - from farmers to lawyers, and from tradesmen to accountants - but not one publican amongst them! But what they have in common is a pride of place and a wish to see the village and the local community thrive and develop to its full potential.

Noel O’Dea, one of five directors, said their tagline is “comhphobal ag obair le chéile - a community working together”.

Fellow director, Liam Carroll BL said: “We took the view that every community needs a place to come together.” 

There is a positive update coming soon and you’ll read about it in the Leader first!