Zengal Hospitality has acquired the Quiet Man Irish Pub in the Melbourne suburb of Kensington.
Zengal Hospitality, run by Irish expats Zenita O’Neill and James Gallagher, were not looking to add another venue to their group, but the personal connection with the Quiet Man Irish Pub on Racecourse Road in Flemington was too hard to pass up.
Gallagher worked as a chef at the pub in 2003, before making the switch to venue management. O’Neill played gigs at the venue with her band. In 2007 Gallagher left the pub and the two formed their own hospitality group, Zengal Hospitality, first opening Irish pub Jimmy O’Neill’s Whiskey & Alehouse in St Kilda, followed by Naughty Nancy’s cocktail bar in Prahran. Quiet Man Irish Pub is now the third venue for the group – and one with the biggest emotional connection.
“It’s not just bricks and mortar for us,” said O’Neill of the acquisition.
“Where this started originally, it’s kind of like closing the loop,” added Gallagher.
The Quiet Man Irish Pub sits on a 842 sqm corner block on the city fringe, just metres away from the Newmarket train station. It’s also less than 2km away from Flemington Racecourse. The pub is currently leased out until the end of March 2025, at which time Zengal Hospitality will close the venue for a short refresh.
“There’s an upstairs component to the venue that’s currently not in use, so we’re looking at a balcony bar up there, as well as revamping the beer garden. We just want to do a bit of a refresh to say that it’s us,” stated O’Neill.
Gallagher, who has been a local to the area for more than 20 years, say they know what they area is lacking and wants to ensure that their version of the pub brings that to Kensington. The pair also want to change the perception of what an Irish pub is in Australia.
“We want to modernise the Irish pub concept in general. I think that in Australia, across the board, you typically kind of old, dark rooms for Irish pubs, but we’re going to bring the young vibrance of the Irish people,” stated Gallagher.
“There’s a lot more people traveling now than there ever was, you know, you know, the taste of Ireland has changed over the years. You know, they don’t typically want the traditional Irish, they want the modern kind of Irish street eats and things like that as well.”
The food will also get an update, with the renowned Naughty Nancy’s Sunday Roast being added to the pub’s menu. Live music will also be a big focus for the venue – particularly in creating a space for smaller artists where those kind of spaces are becoming increasingly limited.
“We’re pretty passionate about promoting live and local musicians, but the venues are drying up. There’s not a lot of places for the small-time musician to perform, you know. So that’s where we want to help,” said O’Neill.
And now that they’re going back to their roots, can we expect a gig from O’Neill and a turn in the kitchen from Gallagher?
“I’ll definitely have a gig there for old time’s sake,” said O’Neill.
“I’ll always have my nose in the kitchen,” added Gallagher.
Zengal Hospitality have now settled on the freehold and will take over the operations of the Quiet Man Irish Pub at the end of March 2025.
