Celebrity pubs - owners famous for something else

Anyone who follows S1447 Black Forge's social media profiles could easily get confused and feel that they have actually followed those of its owner, as he features in virtually every post - its owner being Conor McGregor, should there be anyone left who hasn't seen the bombardment of media posts about his purchase of that pub. He has also bought S1428 Marble Arch, N0162 Waterside and has been linked - probably inaccurately - to basically every other pub that is either closed or for sale in the entire city.

But what other celebs have owned pubs in Dublin? A fair few, albeit not many other are in the game currently. For whatever reason, it's mostly sportsmen, with a few musicians and actors in there for a bit of balance.

I'm not counting politicians, as most of those who run licenced premises ran them before becoming national names - Donie Cassidy, the McEniffs, the Beltons and Gary Gannon for instance. 

So, considering listicles are the highest viewed posts on here by a huge margin, lets list them here, in some idea of chronology:

Early 1800s - famed boxer Dan Donnelly owned four pubs (one at a time), one being what is now 1008283 Fallons

~1963 - Josef Locke owned, and indeed lived above, S0116 Ha'penny Bridge Inn

~1977 - Brendan Grace, also known for his pub in Killaloe which he held until 2011, buys what is now the S1574 Blackchurch Inn, selling it in about 1981. Under his ownership the pub was called the Brendan Grace Place.

1980s - Gaelic footballer Paddy Cullen had S0163 Paddy Cullens pub in Ballsbridge.

1980s - Brendan O'Carroll becomes co-owner of the Abbots Castle pub in Finglas, which did not end well. The pub was demolished in 2018 after decades closed.

1989 - actor Gary Whelan buys what becomes S0120 Whelans with a business partner. He also owns S0281 Dalkey Duck and 1014978 Wild Duck.

~1992 - Limerick hurler Eamonn Rae purchased what is now N0204 P Duggans on Parkgate Street, selling it only a few years ago. Eamonn occasionally worked as a barman in S1478 Cherrytree afterwards.

1992  - members of U2 purchased S0140 Clarence Hotel. While plenty of potentially famous wealthy people would own hotels as investments, there was more direct operation here, and contributed heavily to the reknown of The Kitchen nightclub in the hotel

1995 - Jack Charlton was part of a consortium that purchased the Baggot Inn (now S0004 Xico), selling to Louis Fitzgerald in 2000

2000 - Eddie Irvine owned 50% of Cocoon (now 1004917 Lemon & Duke, more of which later) and of S3132 O'Reillys on Tara Street. The latter 50% ownership seems to continue to this day, through Irvine's Channel Islands firm Tidswell Limited.

2000 - Huey Morgan of Fun Lovin' Criminals had financial involvement in two premises with The Dublin Brewing Company - N0215 Dice Bar and N0185 Voodoo Lounge

2007 - drag queen Panti takes over the running of the former GUBU with Jay Bourke, opening N0191 Pantibar. A second pub, 1015498 Penny Lane, opens new in 2019.

~2010 - Footballer Anthony Stokes bought the N0149 Players Lounge in Fairview with his father. It burned down in 2011. The less said about this the better, really; but the pub has never reopened.

2014 - four rugby players - Sean O'Brien, Jamie Heaslip, Rob Kearney and Dave Kearney - entered the pub trade along with Noel Anderson; currently operating two pubs (1004917 Lemon & Duke, on its second celebrity owners; and 1011804 The Bridge 1859) and have recently purchased the 1009755 Three Tun Tavern from Wetherspoons.

2019 - Hucks on Camden Street owned by Dublin GAA players Eamonn Fennel, Ross McConnell and Michael Darragh McAuley. Not sure if this is a standalone premises or part of 1011789 Flannerys as I've not seen a licence number for it.