County Roscommon bar and restaurant celebrating its 200th birthday

A County Roscommon business is celebrating  its 200th birthday this weekend.

Celebrations for Millar’s Bar and Restaurant, Ballydangan, South Roscommon began with country music singer Alex Roe performing on Friday, July 25th, the date Millar’s opened in 1825.

Gerry Kelly, owner of Millar’s, first started working in the pub at just 10-years-old in December 1978 picking glasses, and is “still picking them today.” 

He spoke about how important the business is to his family. “Millar’s moved around the family, but it never left the family. The doors opened on July 25th, 1825."

The pub has come through a lot across two centuries. A fire destroyed the living accommodation and heavily damaged the pub in 1978. Gerry added the restaurant to the pub in 2002, which played a large part in Millar’s perseverance through the Covid lockdowns that wreaked havoc on the hospitality sector.

The restaurant has been a huge addition to the bar since it opened. “It’s going very well. We have a lot of parties on at the weekends and take-outs are popular," said Gerry.

Across the bar and the restaurant Millar’s employs nearly 20 full time and part time staff – a strong reflection on how positive business has been.

In recent weeks Loru’s Gelato has been added to the restaurant, which proved to be a timely arrival during the recent spell of warm weather.

Thinking about his own time working in Millar’s, Gerry reflected on his favourite aspect of running the business. “Someone asked me ‘what do you like about the pub?’ and the thing I like about the pub is no two days are the same.” He added: “You don’t know who you could meet, one character goes out the door and another one comes in. It’s a pub full of characters and they’re all different. It’s the best thing about pubs.”