Irish pop star Gavin James takes over iconic Dublin pub

The international chart-topping singer songwriter – famous for hits such as Nervous and Always – is the new proprietor of Doyle’s Corner bar in the city’s northside suburb of Phibsborough.

The official opening of the iconic Dublin pub, which dates back to 1873, will be held this coming Wednesday night when the globally famous new owner will pull pints and sing for his customers in a one-off performance.

Time Out magazine in recent years named Phibsborough as one of the world’s coolest neighbourhoods, putting it on the map for visitors to the city.

Now fans of Gavin James, who also lives in Phibsborough, are set to flock to the area in the hope of meeting the singer in his bar.

“This is a really positive story at a time when there is doom and gloom in the Irish hospitality industry with pubs and restaurants closing,” one Dublin businessman told the Sunday World.

“More than 2,000 pubs have closed around Ireland since 2005 and it’s a constant struggle for bars and restaurants to stay open due to rising costs of running their businesses.”

James, whose fans include Ed Sheeran and James Blunt, joins a string of personalities who own bars around Dublin city.

The include a group of former Irish rugby players – Rob and Dave Kearney, Jamie Heaslip and Sean O’Brien – who run Lemon & Duke, The Bridge 1859, The Blackrock and Little Lemon.

They also recently purchased Ranelagh’s most famous pub, McSorley’s, for €5.5 million.

James – real name Wigglesworth – is Dublin city born and reared and grew up on Manor Street.

Showbusiness runs in Gavin’s family, as his great grandparents were opera singers, and his grandfather, Jimmy Mac, was a well-known comic in the 1970s.

His own career in music has come full circle, as he started off singing in the pubs in Temple Bar before hitting the big time.

He supported Ed Sheeran at Croke Park and Taylor Swift in London’s Hyde Park and enjoys a huge following around Europe, as well as in Australia and South America.

Although he travels the world, James told the Sunday World in a recent interview that his heart is always in Dublin.

“I always wanted to do a bit of travelling, but when you’re away you realise you don’t really want to leave for too long,” Gavin said.

“I never found a place that felt like home as much as Dublin does. I do like to travel and see foreign places, so I’m very lucky to have the best of both worlds because my career involves a lot of travelling.”

Gavin’s manager, Edison Waters, yesterday told the Sunday World that while Doyle’s Corner is not going to be turned into a music bar, there are plans to have singer-songwriters play there at weekends.

“Gavin started his own career singing in the pubs, so for people trying to get their leg into the industry there will be no better place to start than in Gavin’s pub,” he said.

Trimmed-down singer James, who now maintains a healthy diet and fitness regimen after losing four stone, has never forgotten what it’s like to be a struggling singer-songwriter hustling for support slots on shows by successful bands and artists such as Kodaline and James Blunt in his early years.

Last year, in association with the mobile network Three, the star took Irish buskers out on his European tour to open his shows.

James told the Sunday World how he himself pestered singer Steve Garrigan to bring him on tour with Kodaline.

“I annoyed the b*****ks out of him,” Gavin said. “Kodaline were the first people to bring me away. I invited myself on their first UK tour. I wrecked Steve’s head…I kept asking, ‘Steve, can I please come on tour with you?’ And he said, ‘Yeah.’ And then I asked him again and again and again, and he always let me go with them. So thank you, Steve, for that.”