After success in Altrincham, the popular Irish bar is preparing to open its second site in Didsbury
06:01, 15 Aug 2025Updated 06:16, 15 Aug 2025
Kennedy’s Irish Bar in Altrincham is opening a new spot in Didsbury (Image: Jason Roberts /Manchester Evening News)
Not too long ago you could count the number of Irish bars in Greater Manchester on your fingers quite comfortably. Despite being a mainstay of the not-so-distant past, they had begun to dwindle despite the strong Irish diaspora and historic influence in the region.
But over the course of the last 12 months there’s been a major increase in the number and variety of Irish pubs and bars opening, hoping to draw in punters looking good pints and good craic – and it’s not just in the city centre.
From Fibber Magee’s in Sale to The Banshee on Stockport Market Place, and The Auld Chimp in Urmston, their reach is being felt well beyond the Mancunian Way, and over in south Manchester, there’s another new addition to the pack.
Kennedy’s Irish Bar, in the heart of Altrincham on Greenwood Street, has been a mainstay since 2021 and has gone on to become a popular spot for live music, traditional vibes and for its Guinness.
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In September last year, the neighbouring space next to the bar became home to The Irish Deli, which is run by the same team and sells a variety of Irish produce, including fresh cheese, Tayto crisps, White Pudding, and Barry’s Tea.
Kennedy’s Irish Bar in Altrincham is opening a new spot in Didsbury (Image: Jason Roberts /Manchester Evening News)
Building on this success and expansion, they’ve now taken over the former CAU and Zizzi spot on Wilmslow Road, but many may also know the Didsbury venue as the former Clock Tower pub.
Sat pretty on the corner of Barlow Moor Road and Wilmslow Road, it’s hard to miss it, and not just because it’s a huge venue, but on account on it’s vibrantly-hued and bold exterior.
Some may recall that a couple of months back, proposals to take over the space included plans to repaint the ground floor bricks of the building to red, something which divided some residents in the area with some calling it a ‘red eye sore’ and ‘hideous’, but others jumped to the pub’s defence.
“I’d rather it be red than empty for another 10 years,” wrote a resident on social media: “Makes the village look more colourful.”
Kennedy’s Irish Bar in Altrincham is opening a new spot in Didsbury (Image: Jason Roberts /Manchester Evening News)
Another said: “I can’t believe people are this bothered about a colour”.
Other residents shared the significance of the colours, with one person pointing out that ‘red and black are the livery colours of the coat of arms of the Kennedy clan’, which came into existence many years ago.
“We hope people have calmed down about the red now, there was a lot of controversy but we got a lot of nice comments too,” jokes Rebecca, Operations Manager at Kennedy’s.
“I think people were jumping the gun a bit, we hadn’t finished putting the coats of paint on and there are other red buildings here, we’re just bigger.”
Kennedy’s Irish Bar in Altrincham is opening a new spot in Didsbury (Image: Jason Roberts /Manchester Evening News)
It’s a sentiment shared by general manager Natalie: “It’s such a great addition to the area, and to see a pub opening when so many are closing is a good thing as well. We’d rather something open than worry about the red colour.”
Kennedy’s Didsbury will officially open at 4pm on Friday (14 August), and as we pay them a visit it’s all hands on deck to sort the pumps behind the bar, fix pictures of the Emerald Isle to the walls and test the speakers out ahead of a weekend of pints, live music and plenty of craic.
Paul Hunt and Green Hot Clover will kick off proceedings on Friday night, while Saturday will see Will Dooley, Mixi Toal and The Bai’s on hosting duties.
Performances from Hallions and Mollys Chambers are on the bill for those heading down on Sunday too.
Kennedy’s Irish Bar in Altrincham is opening a new spot in Didsbury (Image: Jason Roberts /Manchester Evening News)
“We had been looking for a second site for two years and we always had our eye on Didsbury, but couldn’t quite find the right place,” reflects Rebecca on Kennedy’s journey.
“So when this came up it was the perfect opportunity. Our plan had always been to expand so it was just a case of following through.
“It’s an Irish corner now with us, The Station and The Salmon of Knowledge. It’s good for everybody because generally people don’t want to just go to one bar when they come out, they want to head to a few.
“There’s also still a strong Irish community around here as well, which is where Natalie comes because she used to run The Fiddlers Green in Levenshulme.”
Natalie, General Manager at Kennedy’s (Image: Jason Roberts /Manchester Evening News)
Natalie, Kennedy’s General Manager for the Didsbury site, managed the much-loved Levenshulme boozer, which was owned by her mother-in-law until it closed after 32 years.
One of many new Irish bars and pubs, but also ahead of the curve in some ways too, Kennedy’s has built up a strong following over the last four years, and hopes to emulate that success in Didsbury Village.
“We opened in Altrincham post-Covid and I think that may have played a part in the resurgence of Irish bars around here, and when things opened up, people just wanted to have fun. The Irish bars are always a sure thing to get that.
“When I was growing up there were loads of Irish bars and then they sort of died off, but there’s definitely an uptick at the moment. It’s not new, it’s just coming back again.”
Kennedy’s Irish Bar in Altrincham is opening a new spot in Didsbury (Image: Jason Roberts /Manchester Evening News)
On Guinness also having a resurgence, Rebecca has her theories too. “Marketing,” she says with a wry smile.
“Great marketing, they’ve done a great job to push it back out there, and to make it inclusive. Women generally drink more pints as well now, not just half pints.
“In terms of price, we did check everyone else’s, we’ve stuck to the same price as Altrincham, but we do an offer in the week, so weekdays there’s a Happy Hour, Monday to Thursday, 11am to 7pm, where it’s just £4.95 and at weekends it’s a bit dearer at £6.25 but we have live music on all weekend, so I think that’s reasonable.”
There will also be Well Hazy, a session pale, Poretti, Carlsberg, Estrella, Somersby Apple, Coors, and their own Kennedy’s lager known as Tír na nÓg – named after a concept from Irish mythology, meaning “land of the young” or “land of youth”.
Kennedy’s Irish Bar in Altrincham is opening a new spot in Didsbury (Image: Jason Roberts /Manchester Evening News)
They’ll be selling a range or Irish whiskeys, gins and mixers like Club Orange, as well as the popular West Coast Coolers, and there’s plans in phase two to introduce food like they have done at the flagship site.
“On the live music front, we’re seeing where it goes but we might put more on here because it’s more of a vibrant area during the week. At the moment, it’s going to be one act Thursday, two Friday, three Saturday, two Sunday.
“Same sort of bands, and most of them have some kind of Irish connection and they have have the capacity to play some Irish, and some are more traditional, but on Friday and Saturdays it’s a bit more of a night out with more classics that people can dance and sing to.”
Throwing a slight spanner in the works of the Didsbury Dozen, potentially changing the popular pub crawl to a Baker’s Dozen, Rebecca says their not against people including it as part of the trail, but they want to make sure it doesn’t become to focus.
Kennedy’s Irish Bar in Altrincham is opening a new spot in Didsbury (Image: Jason Roberts /Manchester Evening News)
“We don’t want to exclude anybody, but what we don’t we don’t want to be is a Didsbury Dozen bar.
“We’ve got a really good clientele of the Irish community, mixed generations too with older people coming in for a dance so we don’t want to people to be put off by lots of younger people coming in purely doing the Didsbury Dozen and being loud.
“Having a good time, don’t get me wrong, but people come for other things, and we just want to try and get that balance.
“We want it to be a mix, so if we have too many people in, no more are coming in. We’re not excluding, but we’re not going to be full of the Didsbury Dozen.”
Kennedy’s Irish Bar in Altrincham is opening a new spot in Didsbury (Image: Jason Roberts /Manchester Evening News)
Natalie, who is darting about putting the finishing touches on the new bar ahead of its launch on Friday is very excited to see how things turn out though.
“Altrincham is so busy and so fun and that’s just the weekend, so if Didsbury can offer that in the week as well,” she trails off.
“It’s for all ages, friends getting together for drinks or birthdays. If you see me here on a weekend, I’ll be out on the floor constantly making sure every one is happy and having a good time.
“That’s what I love about Kennedy’s, it’s so well organised, everyone is having fun and it’s just a good place to be.”