ON A QUIET city centre street, between a Chinese takeaway and an old carpet shop, sits The Tavern, an unassuming pub with a green façade and gold lettering.
A small bright yellow sign is posted on the door of the Upper William Street pub which reads: “Silence your cell phone. Keep your feet off the seats. No singing, no dancing and no swearing. This is a respectable house.’’
This jarring introduction is in stark contrast to the warm, inviting atmosphere inside.
The walls, covered in pictures of Irish sports stars and old alcohol-branded mirrors, are lit by a red neon strip that winds its way around the ceiling.
READ MORE: ‘Vile and disgusting’ online racial abuse of by-election hopeful slammed by Limerick TD
The back bar wall is piled high with immaculate whiskey bottles and flanked by vintage pub memorabilia, such as a large statue of the Guinness Toucan.
The person behind the bar who you expect to be a grey-haired, bent-over old Irish man is, instead, Dominic, a middle-aged Chinese national.
Alongside wife Claire, they have owned the establishment for the last four years.
They are the two sole employees of The Tavern who have worked full-time, without a holiday, since The Tavern opened.
“We run the pub, just my wife and I, we don’t have staff. We are open seven days a week – we are here every single day. The first year I worked for the whole year on my own – open to close.”
The couple are private people.
As Dominic puts it: “A lot of Chinese just prefer to keep their head down working.”
Dominic, who preferred his last name not to be known, came from China 25 years ago and worked in kitchens and pubs across the country until he acquired The Tavern in 2022.
READ MORE: Barrister asks court to consider leniency for young man who stashed drugs in Limerick bedroom
“I was planning to open on the April 10, but the morning of the opening day, I got a call from my dad saying my uncle had passed away. My uncle was very close to me: he was like my father, he looked after me very well, and I loved him very much.”
The pub was already established amongst the locals of Limerick city, boasting over a century in operation.
“The regulars of the old owner weren’t happy with the change of ownership. People began gossiping and telling each other not to visit The Tavern; they just cut us off.
“Many people tried to harass and intimidate me.
“I was a bit disappointed, I didn’t think Limerick people were like that,” he said.
Dominic, despite this backlash, held his ground and only served the people he believed respected and treated him with kindness.
“The first year, we had a really bad experience, but we learned so much. A lot of people who gave us a hard time were barred from here. They come back in, open the door and say ‘why don’t you serve me? It’s empty!’ But we stuck to our morals and served our regulars.
“It doesn’t matter if they are good drinkers – they didn’t respect us,” he said of the others.
On a visit to The Tavern, you will see Dominic warmly greet every customer who takes a seat at the bar, by name.
“So many people we had to clean out. I was very tired the first year – every day there was someone new I had to make leave.”
It was after this first turbulent year that the warning sign on the front door went up.
He decided to make the place his own and began to transform it.
READ MORE: ‘Out of patience’: Fury over lack of apartments in Limerick city centre
“The first year, when you walk in, you wouldn’t have stayed – everything was dark, and the lights were all white. All the pictures were in black and white.
“Everything here, memorabilia from all over the country, I collected. Everything we got ourselves changed the place completely.
“When I first bought it, I just left it as it was – and it was so quiet. So, I had plenty of time to think about how to make this place my own. I’d work in the day, and then at night, I’d decorate and fix up the place.
“I like the people who drink in here; they love this place, they help us look after it, and they see it as home. This is the reason why I took over the pub – it’s a very homely pub. In the future, I want to see everyone as our family members. I’d like to see customers who help each other communicate with each other, like how families talk.”
He found friendship and advice in other local publicans.
Brothers Mike and James McMahon of Mother Macs implored Dominic to stick it out and hold strong in The Tavern.
When Crew Brewery in Thomas Street was closing, the owner, Jono Crute, encouraged his customer base to take their custom to Dominic.
READ MORE: Limerick bar blames ‘final blow’ from council for decision to close down on Christmas Eve
“I really appreciated it because at the time nobody knew we were here – they didn’t know how The Tavern was and who we were. Crews’ customers saw we were good people and spread it around. James and Mike are lovely people; they give us a lot of help.”
Dominic is proud of what he and Claire have built.
He explains how The Tavern is probably the only pub in Limerick that houses all its kegs and beer lines under the bar.
“People are so used to drinking in pubs with long draft, where liquid can sit in the pipes for a while, that when they drink here, they think something is wrong but this way is better!”
Dominic, who weathered that first hostile year at the back end of Covid, now stands confident that The Tavern has become the home he wanted so badly to create.