Lamb Doyle’s bar-restaurant in Dublin mountains for sale

The future of the long-surviving Lamb Doyle’s bar and restaurant in the Dublin mountains is in doubt following a decision to sell the licensed premises along with a valuable development site extending to 0.49 of a hectare (1.2 acres).

Shane O’Flynn of DTZ Sherry FitzGerald is quoting a guide price of €1,750,000 for the business premises and the site on the Blackglen Road near the junction with Woodside Road in Sandyford, Dublin 18, which is to be sold by private treaty.

Lamb Doyle’s has been trading since 1832 and was a particularly popular rendezvous for couples in the 1960s and 1970s because of its discreet atmosphere, its “de luxe restaurant”, highly fashionable dance floor and exceptional views from the elevated site over most parts of the city. The business took a severe hit when breathalyser tests were introduced by the Garda to curb drink driving.

In 1911 the painter William Orpen described a visit to the bar: “The view from Lamb Doyle’s on a summer’s morning as you sit in the shade outside the house and look back over the bay with Dublin on the left and Howth, Ireland’s Eye and Lambay behind, on the right, Kingstown, Dalkey and Bray Head all of them in the blaze of the midday sun. The sweet smell of the country in your nostrils, a cigarette in your mouth and your glass behind you. Truly you could feel life in all its glory.”

Lamb Doyle’s managed to keep the business going over the years but with housing sites again attracting strong prices, DTZ says that a new owner might well decided to close down the business and use the entire site for housing. There is currently planning permission for two detached houses and, depending on the density permitted by the planners, consent may be forthcoming for at least a further 10 houses.

The property is primarily zoned for residential use but a number of commercial uses are also open for consideration.

The adjacent M50-N11 interchange provides direct access to the city centre 10km away and the various national primary routes.