Dancers and diners across Mitchelstown and the surrounding areas are mourning the loss of the late Bill Byrne, after he passed away last Wednesday at St. Martha’s Nursing Home in Bansha, Co Tipperary. Mr Byrne, a native of Leicester, was well known in the town having been the proprietor of The Firgrove Hotel for over a decade, before it changed hands to its current owner, Mr Pat Tangney.
The late William (Bill) and his wife Joan took over The Firgrove Hotel in May 1983, after the business had been in receivership for a number of months. A contemporary report in The Avondhu noted how the couple had travelled back and forth between England and Ireland over the previous 10 years, as Bill’s parents hailed from Mullingar and Joan, a Skibbereen native, had a sister in Mrs Eileen Walsh, who ran the Eldon Hotel in the West Cork town with her husband, Michael.
The Byrnes were warmly welcomed by the people of Mitchelstown, who saw in the couple job security for the employees of The Firgrove. They were quickly in business as just one week later, on May 12th, 1983, a front-page advert in The Avondhu advertised Sunday lunch for £5.20 (+ 10% service charge) and two children under seven could eat for free.
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