Corrigan’s new gastropub, the‘Deerpark Inn’, nears completion

Chef Richard Corrigan is looking at “mid to late” September for the official opening of his latest culinary venture in Cavan.

The restaurantrepreneur’s plans to transform a quaint Virginia town public house into a landmark gastropub moved another step forward after reviving the former Chestnut Tree pub licence by way of application before Cavan Circuit Court.

“Covid stopped everything, I’ll be honest with you. But we’ve been able to move things forward quite considerably. Now we’re just finishing up with our work on the old Chestnut Tree pub, that’ll soon become the Deerpark Inn,” Richard informed The Anglo-Celt after the court sitting.

He said of the proposal and rebranding: “It’s going to be a proper ‘Inn’, back to its roots as every pub in Ireland once was, with six wonderful rooms en-suite upstairs, and a comfortable bar area downstairs. There’ll be a large outside area to the back, and room for a farmer’s market, Sunday mornings kind of thing.”

The application presented before Judge John Aylmer heard from Garvan Hanley of Hanley Taite Design Partnership who prepared plans for the project.

He told Judge Aylmer that the Chestnut Tree was “long-established” in the south-east Cavan Town, and that once current works were completed, expected sometime in early September, it was his opinion that the premises could once again be used as a public house.

The application to the Circuit Court came after the licence in existence lapsed in 2020. An application was subsequently made to revive the licence but this was queried by Revenue because it was made through the UK registered ‘English Garden Property Limited’.

English Garden has an address C/O Bentleys Seafood Restaurant in London, Richard’s flagship restaurant business in the UK.

The Circuit Court application was therefore made by Virginia Park Lodge Limited, registered in Ireland.

Michelin-starred Richard previously successfully applied for the formal transfer of the licence at Cavan District Court in December 2020.

Having reportedly shelled out €1.1 million to purchase the Virginia Park Lodge property and its sprawling 100 acres in 2013, the multi-award winning and TV personality followed that deal by securing ownership of the Chestnut Tree bar on Virginia’s Main Street in 2019.

He is reported to have spent close to €6 million in redeveloping the Park Lodge as one of country’s most exclusive wedding venues, and previously indicated he would be investing a “substantial” six-figure sum in refurbishing the Chestnut Tree in a similar vein to his hugely successful Daffodil Mulligans venture in London’s uber chic Shoreditch.

As for the Deerpark Inn, Richard’s focus unsurprisingly is on installing a kitchen. “We have a kitchen, but we just have to build an area for that to fit into. That’s the priority right now, and we’re almost there. Bit by bit, piece by piece, it’s all coming together.”

But that’s not all. For insight into the unique approach the Ballivor-native is taking to this latest project, Richard reveals that he has built in a state-of-the-art soundstage with plans to host some of the country’s leading folk artists in future.

To “get it right”, Richard brought on board Lankum’s Darragh Lynch and producer/engineer John ‘Spud’ Murphy who helped record the band’s Choice Music Prize 2019 winning album ‘The Livelong Day’.

“We’ll be one of the few pubs in Ireland with that level of music tech installed. I’m putting in a really good lighting rig too, and a really, really good sound system also. Cavan has an incredible burgeoning folk music scene, really good, and I’m a huge fan of what’s going on, from the trad to the modern and contemporary, and I’d like to be able to express that and encompass it somehow in what we’re doing here.”

Richard is confident his investment will offer a return, and says his approach is less about reinventing the wheel, rather more towards making it spin a different way.

“The day of the small pubs is under pressure, and I’m not saying I have the solution, but I’m willing to give it a bash. I’d love to get the likes of Cormac Begley up. Are people willing to part with maybe €35 or €40 to see it? They’re the things we need to find out.”

He concludes by reserving particular praise for Cavan County Council and the millions of euros of investment being pumped into Virginia town, with streetscape developments currently underway, and plans to redevelop the a new library and civic centre space among others.

“All credit to the council, have a look! The walkways they’re putting into the town, the work on the library and theatre, it’s been smartened up immensely. It’s great news for everyone living there, great news for people passing by, and great news for the likes of myself and others doing business in the town. I’m very happy with what the council are doing, really forward thinking stuff. Virginia is a sweet and beautiful town, and I’m part of it now, like it or lump it.”