It’s a casual Sunday night and the front bar is full with laughter, Irish music and bodies; the way the pub was intended.
Thomas Ward and Shaun Aspinall sit at the counter with a few customers, a habit that’s developed since opening four weeks ago and one that shows their love for ensuring each punter that walks through the door has a pleasant experience.
“I’m happy to get away from the desk and get behind the bar,” Thomas tells me on a much quieter Thursday morning just as the iconic red door opened for business for the day.
Originally Thomas was an accountant at the mines in Western Australia and after a conversation with an old university friend Shaun about the pub (who also previously managed Irish Muphy’s) a career change was on the cards.
“We were just looking at it and looking at it and then things got real serious around August. We really crunched the numbers and around November the price was right so we got Ian and Daniel on board and it went from there,” Thomas says.
With the right price, two other business partners on board with Ian Nichols and Daniel O’Donoghue an offer was made in December and the venue was soon settled in February – where the fun really began.
“I literally flew back from Western Australia on the 8th of February. We’d pop down to 63 degrees have some coffee and had a hard three weeks of renovations before we opened it up. We did all of it ourselves. All our mates are tradies, we’ve got plumbers, builders, sparkies, fridgies,” Thomas says.
“You name it, we always had someone to call on when we needed it,” Shaun adds with a quick smile acknowledging how fortunate they were.
There were moments of doubt leading up to opening for St. Patrick ’s Day, but through sheer determination two days before the Celtic holiday Irish Murphy’s was restored to its full purpose, and then some. With Shaun able to indulge in the possibilities he saw for the venue while he was manager.
“There’s a lot of similarities, but this is our take on what Murphy’s could have been and I think it’s a much better pub than it’s ever been,” Shaun says.
Some of the improvements in mention is the light, bright space the restaurant side of the venue has become. With a splash of paint, some well-placed and purchased furniture the once-cramped space feels much larger.
“We’re really proud of that,” Shaun says of the restaurant. “Everyone sort of just walks in and looks up to the stage and says, ‘I never realised how big this room was’. Because it always just used to feel like the walls were closing in on you. The way we’ve done it just complimented itself.”
While the walls boast a new shade of light green, old treasures of signed drums, photos and signs have found their way back onto the walls thanks to the connection past regulars still hold with the venue.
“All this stuff got brought back in by all the old regulars and they all brought back, just to give it back to the pub. They don’t feel it’s theirs, they feel it’s the pubs. And it’s not ours either,” Thomas says.
Their willingness to give back to the venue comes of no surprise after the duo discovered just what Irish Murphy’s has done for the many thousands who walked through its doors before.
“The amount of people that you meet that met here [is amazing]. I think yesterday we had four couples that had met here and since married and had kids,” Thomas says looking to Shaun.
“They were all sitting in the venue having breakfast and didn’t know each other. And we were talking to a couple and they said we met here, married and had kids and another couple piped up and said, ‘So did we!’ And another couple did and at one stage we had four couples all talking to each other, saying, ‘When did you meet? Do you remember these times and these bands?” Shaun adds.
“We’ve probably had eight couples since,” Thomas says.
In the past Irish Murphy’s may have been a great meeting place, and while that is still certainly true, under Shaun, Thomas and the other two business partners’ guidance, the venue has evolved into much more than that.
As Shaun says, it’s a “traditional pub” but there’s more of an emphasis on quality food. The menu features contemporary Australian dishes with an Irish flair that will have you licking the plate clean.
“It’s not fine dining here or anything like that, but the quality of food we’re serving up is that sort of food where you get your meal in front of you and you are sort of surprised. We want that sort of ‘wow factor’ and that has definitely happened. It’s great when that happens,” Shaun says.
With every aspect of the dish made lovingly in house, the treatment of your pint of Guinness is much the same and will be one of the freshest pours you’ve had for a long while in the region.
“The thing with Guinness is it’s a very particular beer and it has no preservatives so it doesn’t have a shelf life. So if you go to a pub that pours a pint a week, it’s going to be taint and it’s not going to be fresh. So you have to be really selective where you drink Guinness. You should drink it in a venue where they are going through big volumes for the freshest pint. I can pretty much say with confidence that I think we have the best Guinness around this region. We’re pumping through it and we have people come here just for our product,” Shaun says.
“We’d be selling more than anywhere in Geelong by a country mile,” Tom adds, before quickly mentioning the venue also has Kilkenny on tap.
Regular music will take place at the venue in the form of the Irish jams several nights a week, as well as local musicians coming in to perform. And while St. Patrick’s Day may have already passed, the owners are looking at putting on larger scale events.
“I think we can make a real good go of it,” Shaun adds.
With every element thought of, and with both Shaun and Thomas living upstairs, you can be sure Irish Murphys’ return will be here to stay.
“I guess that’s the advantage of us both living here, we’re immersed in the business,” Shaun says.
“At the end of the day you don’t really think about it because you’re working for yourself. The harder I work the more I’ll succeed and that’s the way you’ve got to look at it.”
Written by Amanda Sherring
Where: 30 Aberdeen St, Geelong West
When: Mon-Sun 11am-midnight
Ph: (03) 5221 4335
Site: www.irishmurphysgeelong.com.au
