Shuttered Irish bar in Government Center could open in a month with a new name, new menu, but still Irish football on the TV

Update: License transfer approved.

The new owners of the Kinsale Irish Pub at Center Plaza say they're hoping to re-open in four to five weeks with pretty much the same look as before, but under the new name of the Dubliner.

The Boston Licensing Board votes tomorrow whether to approve the sale of the defunct Kinsale's liquor license to the Dubliner, with William McCarthy as its manager.

At a hearing today, Dubliner attorney Andrew Upton said the new owners will "do some cosmetic cleaning and improvement inside, but it's basically going to go in the same direction." He added, "it's still going to be a classic Irish bar."

In a tweet, though, the bar says Upton may have undersold what they're doing:

Our new pub won’t be anything like the last one. We’ve been working at it for 3 months. 2 new bars, new decor, new kitchen, Michelin star chef.

The Kinsale opened in 1998 with an interior that had been carefully "deconstructed" in a bar in Ireland, then shipped to Boston for reconstruction. It closed at the height of the early pandemic in 2020.

One change would come if the board agrees to a request to let the Dubliner open at 7 a.m. instead of 8 a.m. Upton said this is to let patrons catch the start of "important Irish football games." He acknowledged that state liquor laws bar the sale of alcoholic drinks before 8 a.m., so the bar would open its doors for matches without liquor for the first hour.