Limerick businesswoman announces retirement from her popular city cafe

WELL-KNOWN Limerick businesswoman Helen O'Donnell has announced she is to retire from running the Hunt Museum cafe after 25 years.

She said she does so, "with regret", but wants to instead pursue other interests.

"I have loved every minute of my time at the Hunt Museum and look forward to handing over the baton to new fresh talent to grow the business into the future. I would like to thank the many loyal customers who down the years have made our business a huge success. I have given this a lot of consideration and I wanted to support the Museum through Covid and prove to myself the café could survive such a curveball. We will continue to provide catering to our corporate and private clients from another location," Ms O'Donnell said.

It's hoped to have a new tenant in place before Easter 2022.

Until then, Ms O'Donnell will continue at the café and assist in the transition to a new operator.

A tender will be issued in the second week of January 2022 and submissions by interested parties will be reviewed by a subcommittee of the board of the Hunt Museum.

The board of the museum believe the change will be a thrilling opportunity for the café and the Hunt to play a refreshed role in Limerick’s emerging food scene.

"The Hunt Museum would like offers from interested parties that keep the loyal following built by Helen while delivering a new chapter for the restaurant. A partnership that will complement the ethos of the museum and its aspiration to be a centre of civic life in the region is important, alongside the ability to generate new benefits to Limerick and the region. With the new garden creating a wonderful outdoor space, facing the River Shannon, the possibilities for an operator wishing to play a leading role in the city centre’s day and night food scene are wide open and very exciting," the museum added in a statement.