Journey to the job with Cillian Mulligan from Dundalk pub Mo Chara

Cillian Mulligan is one part of the three-man team who owns Dundalk’s popular Mo Chara bar. Started by three childhood friends, Cillian, Paul & Vincent in July 2021, the pub has become renowned for its many events and unique approach to the industry.

Cillian didn’t always know he wanted to open a pub, but his entrepreneurial spirit was evident from a young age. Growing up in Dundalk, his parents ran small businesses, and the world of entrepreneurship was never far away. “My dad used to run market stalls in Jonesborough,” he recalls. “That was tough work, but it was a great education. My mum had her own hair salon, so I was always surrounded by people who worked for themselves. It was in the blood.”

But owning a bar wasn’t always part of the plan. Like many young boys, Cillian first dreamed of becoming a footballer. “That lasted until I was about 12 or 13,” he admits with a laugh. “Then I realized that wasn’t going to happen.” By his mid-teens, he began leaning more towards a different ambition—to run his own business. “I didn’t even know what an entrepreneur really was back then, but I knew I wanted to work for myself and have control over my future.”

This passion for entrepreneurship took him to National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG), where he studied commerce, focusing on marketing. 

College was a time of exploration for Cillian, and it gave him a sense of independence. His years at NUIG were filled with opportunities to travel, including a stint in France during an Erasmus year. 

After university, unsure of his next steps, Cillian found himself gravitating towards a role with Jameson Irish Whiskey as a brand ambassador. “I didn’t really know what a brand ambassador did,” he admits. “When you went to the grad fairs, the Jameson stand always stood out a mile. They would go mad and basically treat it like it was an event with music and a big bus and everything.” 

He got the job, beating out thousands of applicants, and was sent to India, where he spent the next few years promoting Jameson in a rapidly growing market. The experience of working abroad shaped his understanding of business and branding. “India was this completely different world,” Cillian reflects. “But as soon as I got over there, I just loved it. It was completely chalk and cheese [compared to here] but everyone could speak English.

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After his time with Jameson, Cillian returned to Dundalk as the world grappled with the COVID-19 pandemic and worked with his now business partners, Paul and Vino, at Dundalk Bay Brewery in the marketing department. It was during this time that they began to seriously consider opening a bar together. 

“We’d always talked about starting a brewery,” he explains, “but we realised, after working in a brewery, we didn’t know really much about brewing beer,” he laughs.“We knew you’d need to have a ball of money. So we were like, right? What do we have? Marketing skills, and we know business and have people skills. Why don’t we start a pub? “But let’s do it in a different way. Let’s do it like, almost like what we learned from Jameson doing all events and brand building.”

That vision became a reality in July 2021 when Mo Chara opened its doors in Dundalk. Looking back, Cillian recalls one key piece of advice he received early on: “Conor Myers, who opened his own bar down in New York, he’s a fella from just out by Kilkerley, he basically said that on the opening weekend just relax, once the beer is cold and the music’s good that’s what people want. 

“So that was good advice. Just relax and you can add to it all over time. You know, it doesn’t have to be perfect from the get go.”