Foxhunter Pub Closed by Revenue ?

Seemed to be all locked up yesterday when passing it. Wouldn't surprise me. Doing little or no business lately

The Foxhunter was sold by the Towey family, current owners of ARC among other public houses, to a well known property developer for a significant sum of money in October 2007. Suffice to say that this well known developer subsequently hit the wall in the property crash and most if not all of his "assets" currently reside in NAMA. The Foxhunter being one of them. The current Manager, is the second to lease the Pub since the Toweys left and the first one to actually deal with NAMA.

The word on the street is that Revenue entered the premises on Wednesday morning with a closure order and gave the staff one hour to leave the premises.

The Revenue department do not usually act out of hand like this, so you would have to assume that there has been a bit of previous between them and the lease holder, most likely related to non payment of VAT and or PAYE.

The "Fox" is a long standing and popular hostelry in this part of Lucan although it has fallen on harder times of late, mostly due to it's location. The
erection of safety barriers along the N4 outside, though badly needed from a safety point of view have certainly not helped as the Pub has traditionally benefitted from a passing trade of motorists heading to all points West.

I reside in locally and sincerely hope that someone of substance comes along and re-opens the Pub as a going concern for the local area.

The outgoing Manager, it has to be said did little or nothing to attract a crowd to the shop, closing Tailor Quigleys late bar and generally discouraging any kind of initiatives offered up by both staff an locals alike.

Let's hope that this is not the end of another piece of old Dublin.

Eric The Great wrote: »

The Foxhunter was sold by the Towey family, current owners of ARC among other public houses, to a well known property developer for a significant sum of money in October 2007. Suffice to say that this well known developer subsequently hit the wall in the property crash and most if not all of his "assets" currently reside in NAMA. The Foxhunter being one of them. The current Manager, is the second to lease the Pub since the Toweys left and the first one to actually deal with NAMA.

The word on the street is that Revenue entered the premises on Wednesday morning with a closure order and gave the staff one hour to leave the premises.

The Revenue department do not usually act out of hand like this, so you would have to assume that there has been a bit of previous between them and the lease holder, most likely related to non payment of VAT and or PAYE.

The "Fox" is a long standing and popular hostelry in this part of Lucan although it has fallen on harder times of late, mostly due to it's location. The
erection of safety barriers along the N4 outside, though badly needed from a safety point of view have certainly not helped as the Pub has traditionally benefitted from a passing trade of motorists heading to all points West.

I reside in locally and sincerely hope that someone of substance comes along and re-opens the Pub as a going concern for the local area.

The outgoing Manager, it has to be said did little or nothing to attract a crowd to the shop, closing Tailor Quigleys late bar and generally discouraging any kind of initiatives offered up by both staff an locals alike.

Let's hope that this is not the end of another piece of old Dublin.

I remember i went in there on the morning of Ryder cup in Ireland, no safety barriers there then. The place was empty so knew its future was going to be bleak. Over the last 5 years it wasnt even attractive for food.


So much more could of been done with it.

There is an access point just below the pedestrian bridge to the east of the pub and garage on the N4, problem is if you don't know exactly where it is you are soon sailing by both on the outside of the barriers.

A lot of people travelling west will simply continue on to the next hostelry down the motorway rather than try and find a way in..................totally understandable. Prior to the erection of the barriers and especially in the summer a lot of people on their way home from Croke park would have used the Fox as a stopping off point before hitting the road in earnest. This was once a big source of revenue to the pub.

I'm not suggesting that the safety barriers are a major cause of the pubs demise, however when included with a bunch of other issues such as people abandoning pubs in general to drink at home, location (getting to and from), stricter drink driving legislation enforcement etc etc, it seems that this pub is going the way of many more across the country.

If I was a betting man my money would be firmly on a neighbouring pub, the Deadmans Inn to be the next one to hit the skids.

It never made me feel welcome when i moved to the area 18years ago and on many visits since then nothing has changed my mind of it as a 'original locals only clique pub'


May it stew

I used to pop in the odd time for food and a couple of pints as it's only a 5/6 minute walk from my house. Food was always great and pints decent enough but little atmosphere in the bar.

It also garnered a bit of a reputation for trouble. Some may have just been urban legend but i certainly arrived in one sunday afternoon to find shattered glass and boarded up doors and was told of a melee the previous evening.

Yo Hank......just read both of your posts on the Fox Hunter and feel a reply is necessary to give the opinion of a bona fide "Local" , yes, that's "local", you aren't seeing things.

Firstly, I have been a regular in the Fox for going on sixteen years. Under the Toweys and back before the nationwide slump, this was one of the best Pubs around...for Beer, food, music, craic, sports viewing etc etc.

After 2007 it was run by an agency for a couple of years, whose sole aim it was to make money. it was during this period that the pub got a rep for trouble when they put on a disco every weekend which attracted a lot of undesirables from a 5 mile radius, probably the same scum who are now living it up in the over 30s club in the Deadmans.

Once the last lease holder took over three years ago he made a point of removing these people from the pub and bar the odd row, which can happen anywhere it has been fairly quiet during his tenure.

So, there's two myths put to bed......1) The Fox does have Locals and 2) It is not a sanctuary for people who don't get served elsewhere.

On the point that you weren't made welcome on your visits....what would you have liked....a marching band perhaps.....maybe some bunting, flags or whatever. You called the place a clique, did it ever occur to you that just maybe it was down to yourself.....

I don't know if you are Irish or not......it shouldn't matter, but it does because the majority of Irish men entering a new pub for the first time wont wait around to be welcomed by the locals, they will get involved over a period of time until they become a local themselves.....

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056214298&page=18

Pic no 6 good few years ago

What mobby was pointing out was that the last picture in this post is the Foxhunter/Texaco in 1977.....

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=81598218&postcount=256

realies wrote: »

Heard over the weekend that the towey,s bought the foxhunter back ???

They are just leasing it I am led to believe

I like the idea of markets and shops, particularly if they sell Asian wares.
Can't see too much of an issue with a mosque so long as it's not festooned with minarets blaring out prayers several times a day.
If it's done like the Esker House development, you wouldn't be any the wiser.

Four or five weeks back I popped into ARC at Liffey Valley SC for a couple of pints. While there I had an interesting conversation with a senior member of the Bar staff regarding the situation at the Foxhunter.

This guy who previously worked in the Fox, related that it was known within the trade that a deal had been struck with a british company, based up around Newcastle (Co Durham) to take over the running of approximately 34 distressed pubs in Ireland, the Foxhunter being one of them.

The word at that time was that the Fox would re-open for business within 6 or 7 weeks, more or less in time for Paddys day.

I am saddened to report that there has been zero movement in or around the Fox in the interim, save for the dumping of rubbish of household and possibly more sinister origins.

The other major sources of movement in the car park are the usual, Gardai munching on donuts and people using the space for park and ride, of both kinds .

At this point I am becoming more or less convinced that the Fox will go the way of the Salmon Leap, It has become a blot on the landscape as there is no single body taking any kind of responsibility for the site.

Rubbish is beginng to stack up, particularly along the drive leading onto the N4 off ramp at Woodies Bridge.

There have also been some reports recently of anti social behaviour in the area, when the Gardai have gone off shift, I presume...a cursory look over the wall will show the evidence in the form of discarded bottles, cans, flagons etc.

I try to go past on a regular basis to watch for any signs of life or progress of any kind and will publish any such news as I find it.......However for the moment it all looks as dead as the proverbial dodo .