Profits have soared at O’Donoghue’s Bar on Merrion Row in Dublin, one of Ireland’s best known pubs.
The company recorded post-tax profits of €902,887 in its last financial year.
Annual accounts filed by O’Donoghues (Merrion Row) Ltd, owned by the Barden family, including publican Oliver Barden, show the company recorded a profit for the second year in a row following a period of sustained losses during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Dividends of €54,375 were paid to shareholders during the company’s financial year ending June 30th 2024. It had also recorded a profit of €215,886 in 2023 as the hospitality sector experienced a resurgence in the aftermath of pandemic lockdowns.
At the outset of Covid-19, the company had recorded losses of €172,182 in June, 2021, and of €286,623 in June of the following year.
Bouncing back since then, accumulated profits stood at more than €2.5 million by June last year, according to the accounts which were signed off by the company’s directors Oliver and Marie Barden.
Employee headcount at the famous bar – where the Dubliners first began playing – remained constant at 22, while directors’ remuneration fell slightly on the previous financial year, from €345,000 to €316,000.
The company’s tangible assets increased from €7.3 million in June 2023 to €9.93 million in their last accounts, in which they accounted for depreciation of €242,898. That includes an investment property worth €1.3 million.
The abridged accounts do not provide a revenue figure for the year.
The storied bar began as an unlicensed drinking establishment in the 18th century before later operating as a legal establishment. During the 1960s, under the ownership of Paddy and Maureen O’Donoghue, it became a hub for traditional Irish music with the Dubliners becoming a regular fixture.
The Barden family acquired the 15 Merrion Row establishment in 1988 and has been running it since then.
