It started with Robert A. Merry in Dungarvan, bottling and supplying what people came back for. Good drink, well handled, and worth the money. Nothing overcomplicated, just done right.

By 1883, the business had grown into something serious. A bonded warehouse on Beau Street, along with premises at 5 and 6 The Mall in Waterford, became home to a carefully built stock of whiskey.

Not just any whiskey either. Merry’s held one of the largest collections of Old Irish Pot Still Whiskey in the South of Ireland, stored in cask and minded properly. Scotch whiskies sat alongside it, chosen with the same eye. Quality first, always.

As the years went on, the shelves filled out. Wines from Portugal, Spain and France. Sherries, ports, clarets and Burgundies brought in directly.

Bottled beers became a big part of the trade too. Guinness Extra Stout was bottled under the Merry’s label for over 60 years, the white label becoming a quiet mark of trust.

The business also became the largest bottler of Bass & Co. ales in the Irish Free State, while never losing sight of home produce, including Waterford Ale, Kiely’s XX.

But it wasn’t just about what was poured. Tea and coffee were blended and roasted with care, built on flavour and strength. The provisions side was run just as tightly, with fresh bacon, sausages and pork delivered daily, and dairy kept at its best.

There was no big secret to it. Just a way of doing things.

Keep the standard high.
Keep it honest.
Give people something worth coming back for.

THAT’S STILL THE THINKING BEHIND MERRY’S TODAY.

At Merry’s Gastro Pub, the focus is simple. Fresh, local produce. A farm-to-fork approach where possible. Food made properly and served without fuss.

The kind of place built on habit, where people know what they’re getting.

Because while a lot has changed since 1868, the reason people come through the door hasn’t.

And that way of doing things carries on in our sister pub in Dublin, The Merry Cobber, opened in 2016 and built on those very foundations.