Once thriving Laois bar and restaurant turning into a guesthouse
Abbeyleix fine dining venue unexpectedly closed down in 2023
A thriving Laois bar and restaurant that unexpectedly shut down nearly one year ago, has been converted into a hostel style guesthouse.
McEvoy's was a popular venue in the Tidy Town champion town of Abbeyleix, located in a prominent spot on Main Street in a building which is a protected structure.
Owned by the Stokes family of Castle Durrow, it had been leased out for four years, but was shut down suddenly by proprietory Sean McIlroy to the shock of the community in May of 2023.
McEvoy's Restaurant on the month it closed in May, 2023. Image: Google Maps
The applicant is Icolater Ltd Simon Stokes.
He seeks permission to "retain change of use from Bar and Restaurant to a Guest House on the ground floor at McEvoys Bar and Restaurant, a protected Structure RPS 069 and NIAH no. 12900714"
There are seven shared bedrooms in the ground floor 244sqm guesthouse, with a total of 21 single beds between them.
Three shower rooms, toilet blocks for ladies and gents and a kitchen are also in the plan.
A decision is due on the application by late June 2024.