The Bridge 1859 bar in Ballsbridge, co-owned by Irish rugby international stars Jamie Heaslip, Seán O’Brien and brothers Rob and Dave Kearney, along with publican Noel Anderson, increased its profits four-fold to €287,865 last year.
Newly-filed accounts for Herbert Inns Ltd show that the pubs profits saw a big increase from €68,242 since first opening reports, the Irish Examiner. Anderson said that "the business is going very well. It is going from strength to strength" and that the quartet of rugby players have had a "bigger role than I thought they would have at the start, to be honest, but they are very involved and I think it gives them a good ‘out’ from rugby".
Herbert Inns also purchased the adjacent restaurant, with Anderson saying "the extra capacity we now have for match days is key". The pub currently employs 24 staff with staff costs totalling €539,585.
The group recently added a new bar in the summer called Lemon & Duke, located on 2 Duke Lane Upper, close to Trinity College, which has been "trading out of its skin" since opening said Anderson.
