The Anvil Inn has been an institution in Portarlington for four decades – and it is marking its 40th anniversary in business with a weekend of celebrations on September 20-21.
There will be live music on the Saturday and Sunday as well as a free barbeque and a variety of giveaways.
“We want to say thank you to the people who have supported The Anvil over the years,” says Eoghan Coffey.
“Customers, staff and the town of Portarlington have been very good to us. We have had an amount of customers over the years and a huge amount of local people have worked for us. We are so grateful to people for their support.”
Owned by the Coffey family, the Anvil Inn has been at the heart of the town in almost every imaginable way.
Open seven days a week, it serves food from Monday to Saturday and it’s a typically busy town pub and a place for all sorts of parties and celebrations.
It also boasts a large outdoor music area, The Forge, and an intimate 70-seater acoustic room upstairs that the likes of Mundy, John Spillane, Luka Bloom and Eleanor Shanley have all performed in.
Aoife Scott plays there on October 17 while it’s a regular haunt for comedy gigs too – Owen Colgan is live on October 24, for example.
As well as being a generous sponsor and supporter of local causes over the years, the Anvil has also hosted every type of local fundraiser.
While this year marks its 40th anniversary, the Coffey family connection goes back even further.
The premises was initially purchased by Nuala and Patrick Coffey in the early 1970s and they ran it for a couple of years before selling it on. It then had three different owners until Padraig Coffey and his wife Margaret bought it in 1985.
In the late 1990s, they also bought an adjacent property on Foxcroft Street that allowed them expand.
Padraig and Margaret have been the proprietors across the years since and have been joined by their sons Eoghan and Padraig Jnr.
The Anvil has doubled in size over the years and they’ve been constantly seeking to enhance the business. The Forge was done up in 2019 and the upstairs music area followed a while after. The bar out the back has been entirely renovated too.
Between full-time and part-time, there are about 25 staff and indeed many young local people have got a start there.
Forty years is business is no mean achievement.
Here’s to many more.
Anvil Inn Celebrations – September 20-21
Saturday, September 20
- Dopamine – 4pm
- Alright Then – 5.15pm
- Aoife Coady – 6.30pm
- Half the Truth – 7.45pm
- 80s with DJ P McEvoy
- Plearaca – 9.30pm
Sunday, September 21
- Mel Fitz – 4pm
- Kaarrees – 5.30pm
- Free BBQ – 5pm
- The Electrix – 7.30pm
Check out the Anvil Inn on Instagram
