WATCH Fordes Courtyard is Limerick’s newest pub and restaurant, bringing a fresh atmosphere to the city’s nightlife

Pictured is Fordes Courtyard owner, JJ Mulcahy who says the city centre venue is bringing something unique to Limerick nightlife. Picture: Olena Oleksienko/ilovelimerick. In Collaboration with Fordes Courtyard

The city centre’s newest pub, Fordes Courtyard, has the ingredients for a Limerick nightlife favourite

Located on Little Ellen Street in Limerick City centre, Fordes Courtyard has quickly established itself as one of the city’s favourite additions to the food and nightlife scene, thanks to its Neapolitan-style pizza, diverse menu, and lively weekend atmosphere.

Fordes Courtyard is located in the former Cobblestone Joe’s site, along with neighbouring bar The Old Quarter. The new addition to the Limerick scene aims to complement the area through its historical structure and develop along with the nearby Opera Square project.

Owner, JJ Mulcahy, told I Love Limerick they aim to create something that is “very different” and “unique” for the people of Limerick. He said, “ We wanted something that would complement the pub, the area with all the fine work that Limerick 2030 are doing in terms of the Opera Square, something that is very unique and very different for Limerick.

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“We involved the team in all aspects of the design to bring it all to life, because it’s such an old building that the stone walls have been in situ for so long. It was about focusing on them and bringing them back to life, and then everything else just came along and just fell into place.”

Bringing a diverse Italian menu to the area, Fordes Courtyard is putting an emphasis on the Neapolitan-style Pizza that boasts a “phenomenal” quality and flavour.  Following suit on the attention paid to the renovation of the location, the kitchen team are matching the efforts with the detail and care given to each dish on the menu, especially the handmade dough.

JJ explained, “ Our food offering is very much about Neapolitan Pizza. It’s handmade pizza and pasta. We have an incredible team in the kitchen. We imported a Valoriani Oven from Italy; it was Handbuilt on site. It gives that authentic handmade feel for pizza.”

JJ described how the dough is prepared 72 hours before serving, saying, “The hydration and the fermentation are a big part of Neapolitan Pizza. So it’s an incredible process from start to finish – very labour-intensive, but we think the quality you get at the end of it is phenomenal.”

As well as traditional pizza, the kitchen has diversified the menu, bringing fresh pastas, salads, and other dishes, and even offers gluten-free options, with Mr Mulcahy noting they “try to cater to the masses”, saying it is “important to be diverse and be able to offer multiple dishes to multiple people”.

As well as the food, Fordes Courtyard has not forgotten its roots as a bar in the city centre offering “incredible Italian wines”, a cocktail menu and draft products to accompany the kitchen menu.

When evening comes around, the venue is transformed from its restaurant when the kitchen closes to a hub for nightlife in the city with live entertainment and djs; JJ said, “ In terms of lighting and being able to transform the venue from what you see when we’re serving food, into the nighttime space where we have our DJs and our live entertainment, that actually gives the place a different vibe and a different feel.”

As well as an addition to nighttime entertainment in the city, Fordes Courtyard is also available for private events. “ So, with it being so new to the Limerick nighttime scene, we’ve been able to facilitate a lot of bigger parties and groups where we can close off the venue for specific events,” JJ said, adding, “We’ve done many events here so far. It caters for about 120 people. It’s ideal in that sense, that you have a city centre venue and can accommodate your group and do pretty much anything that you need. Everybody’s absolutely welcome in Fordes Courtyard!”