Could Claremorris man tap into Guinness World Record?

Ciara Galvin

A CLAREMORRIS man could be looking at setting a new world record as he opens his latest bar in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Niall Hanley, originally from Claremount, Claremorris has opened the latest attraction for beer lovers stateside.
The Raleigh Beer Garden will boast an astounding 378 draught beers on tap.
And the venue’s owner is quietly confident that his new bar will take the world record for the most amount of beers on tap.
“We have to have 378 to beat the record and they [beers] all have to be pulling in line the day the guys from the Guinness World Records come out. It’s a big venue. We’d be averaging 300 plus kegs a week,” explained Hanley.

Vast array
Such is the vast array of beers available at the bar, customers download the beer menu as an app, as the available beers can change hourly depending on demand.
Having studied horticulture in college, Hanley started a landscaping business in Claremorris but decided to leave for America at the age of 24.
Now Hanley has designed the 8,500sq ft (790sq m) structure himself, as he has done with all of his establishments. Hanley opened his first venue The Hibernian in 2000, with two more Hibernians now being ran, a nightclub called Solas, and a Tex Mex restaurant.
The hospitality industry runs in the family, with Niall’s brother Paul running the Western Hotel in Claremorris with the help of his wife Anne and his family of six daughters.
Though very much settled in his adopted home, Niall tries to get home as often as he can to catch up with his 15 nieces and nephews and is a proud grand uncle.

The venue
Working closely with a local architect, Niall has overseen all décor works at the new venue even putting in place a feature pecan tree in the middle of the building, taking inspiration from bar owner and friend, Tommy Smith of McSwiggan’s in Galway, which also sports a feature tree.
Niall’s other brother Micheal, who lives in Claremorris, even helped in the bar’s construction.
“Micheal, the welder extraordinaire, built all the racks and coolers when he was over on holidays.”
Nothing has gone to waste in the construction of the new venue with felled pecan trees from the site of the bar being used to make the bar’s tables.
Committed to keeping it local, out of the 378 beers on tap, over 100 of them are from North Carolina.
“Beer tourism is really kicking off. I’ve had calls from Iceland and Holland from people wanting to take on the idea.”
And what is the recipe for Hanley’s success? ‘Controlled catastrophe’, he jokes.
Adding, ‘It’s the great team I have. But I would love more Irish working here. Students on J1s are inclined to go to New York and San Francisco but I love to get a few more over here,” said Niall.