O'Neill's is an
Irish-themed pub chain
A pub chain is a group of pubs or bars operating under a unified brand image. Pubs within a chain are tied houses and can, generally, only sell products which the chain owner sanctions. Pubs in a chain normally display their chain branding prom ...
with 49 outlets in the United Kingdom. The chain is operated by
Mitchells & Butlers
Mitchells & Butlers plc (also referred to as "M&B") runs circa 1,784 managed pubs, bars and restaurants throughout the United Kingdom. The company's headquarters are in Birmingham, England. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange an ...
, one of the largest
pub companies in the UK. Pubs are located across the whole of the UK, except for
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
, where there are none.
The chain's focus is on Irish music, an Irish inspired food menu and Irish drinks such as Guinness, Jameson and Baileys.
History
The first O'Neill's was opened in Aberdeen in 1994 by
Bass, the largest pub company in the UK at the time.
A second O'Neill's opened at Covent Garden in 1995. By 1996, there were 52 and it was Bass's most successful pub chain. By 1996, Bass was opening more than one a month, and had spent £40 million on the pub chain. Ten opened in September 1996 alone. Bass owned Caffrey's ale, which was launched by the company around the same time as O'Neill's. By late 1996, Bass was opening a branch of O'Neill's every week.
By the end of 1997, Bass had over 250 Irish-themed pubs. Bass acquired the 40-strong Scruffy Murphy's Irish pub chain from
Allied Domecq
Allied Domecq PLC was an international company, headquartered in Bristol, United Kingdom, that operated spirits, wine, and quick service restaurant businesses. It was once a FTSE 100 Index constituent but has been acquired by Pernod Ricard. Th ...
in 1999.
By June 2003, Mitchells and Butlers had 91 O'Neill's.
From 2012, M&B began to rebrand some locations as "O'Neill's Irish Pub & Kitchen". By 2013, the chain's estate had reduced to 49 public houses.
Operation
The pubs specialise in Irish
music
Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...
,
food and drinks, especially
Guinness,
Smithwick's
Smithwick's () is an Irish red ale-style beer.
Smithwick's brewery was founded in Kilkenny in 1710 by John Smithwick and run by the Smithwick family of Kilkenny until 1965 when it was acquired by Guinness, now part of Diageo. The Kilkenny b ...
(for which it has exclusive rights in
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...
), and, until early 2013,
Caffrey's Irish Ale. On St. Patrick's Day, they sell over 71,000 pints of Guinness.
Cannon Street
Cannon Street is a road in the City of London, the historic nucleus of London and its modern financial centre. It runs roughly parallel with the River Thames, about north of it, in the south of the City.
It is the site of the ancient London ...
in the City of London
27-29 East St Bromley .jpg, O'Neill's in Bromley
Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 87,889 as of 2011.
Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, c ...
See also
*
List of Irish restaurants
Following is a list of Irish-themed restaurants operating in the United States:
* Beef O'Brady's
* Bennigan's
* Dorrian's Red Hand Restaurant, New York City
* Kells Irish Pub, Portland, Oregon, U.S.
* Kildare's Irish Pub
* McSorley's Old Ale ...
References
External links
O'NeillsMitchells & Butlers*
{{UK Food
1994 establishments in the United Kingdom
Irish restaurants
Mitchells & Butlers
Pub chains
Restaurants established in 1994