Make a wish as The Well reopens
Despite having no previous connection to Kingscourt, Dubliner Martin Eastwood has received great support from the local community after recently taken over the Wishing Well Pub and Restaurant in the town.
“When I came across the opportunity to take over The Wishing Well, one of the things that really won me over was the town itself. The people of Kingscourt are great people. I’ve received so many emails, phone calls and comments online from people saying the whole town is behind you. They were saying they’re delighted to have ‘The Well’ back open. We’ll keep the old name but call it The Wishing Well by Eastwoods because it’s important to put your name to your work.”
Martin had a very close bond with his grandmother who sadly passed away in 2020. He feels she gave him a nudge from above to take the plung and said it will be a proud day when the doors finally open.
“I would have loved for her to see this. There’s a beer garden out the back that was called ‘Nana’s Garden’. It really made me feel attached to the place when I saw it. I had a close connection with her. I don’t know if it was a sign or not but it definitely drew me to the place.”
Martin has experience in the hospitality sector: “I run an event management company called Wide Variety. It’s an event services business and it operates across the country. We run 200 events a year like weddings, corporate events etc. But this will be the first bar and restaurant and the first in situ place I’ve owned,” he explained.
The transition from the previous owners will be made easier as many of the former staff are coming back to work in the bar.
“Thankfully, we’ve got a number of the previous staff who are coming back and we have some others coming from further afield. So, starting January for instance, we’ll have a chef who worked on Fade Street restaurant in Dublin under the celebrity chef, Dylan McGrath.
One of my initial concerns was getting the right team in place. I was actually shocked by the level of interest that was there when the job ads went out. I want to make it a happy place where people like to come to work.”
Martin is hoping to for a big crowd when The Well has its official opening on December 2.
“I’d like to thank the people of Kingscourt for the welcome that they’ve shown me so far. I’m really looking forward to welcoming everybody to the Wishing Well on December 2. We will try to do everything we can to give everyone the best experience.
“We’re going to open up at 12pm and will be serving food until 8 pm, which is what we’ll be doing seven days a week from now on.
“I think that’s good for the town because they now have somewhere to go to get fed seven days a week. We’ll have live music and the decorations up. It will be a great occasion.”