Co Down bar for sale as owners move on after two decades

The owners of a popular Co Down pub have paid tribute to the “great memories” made there as they put the bar up for sale.

Joanne Mullen and her husband Seamie have owned and managed Minny Doyle’s bar and restaurant in Hilltown for over 20 years, and have decided to move on to new opportunities.

Minny Doyles is on the market for offers over £350,000 and has a kitchen, beer garden and a cocktail bar.

The pub has a history going back over 100 years in Hilltown, and Mrs Mullen remembers it forming a part of her own youth in the village.

“It would’ve been somewhere we went when we were young, and we have great memories of it,” she told the Belfast Telegraph.

“It’s been part of Hilltown for a long time.

“Me and my husband had always wanted to run a bar, and I was working at it when my brother owned it. The opportunity to own it came up.”

The pub trade has seen some challenging times in recent years, but Joanne said trade has been improving lately.

She said people were “relieved” to get out of the house after the Covid-19 lockdowns, and despite initial “scepticism” about going back to pubs, she said “it’s really coming back to what it was.”

Word has got around Hilltown already about the Mullens’ desire to move on, and Joanne said people have been encouraging.

“People in our wee village have been very supportive. When you manage a bar it nearly becomes associated with you. But I’m sure the same will happen for whoever takes it over next.”

Joanne says that she and Seamie will aim to take on a less time-consuming role in their next endeavour, compared to the day-to-day stress of running a bar.