Iconic Laois pub in Portlaoise listed as sale agreed
Landmark pub on Portlaoise main street hasn’t traded in almost a decade
An iconic Laois pub on Portlaoise’s main street has been listed as sale agreed.
Located near the Leinster Express / Laois Live office, Charlie Keegan’s pub has been a fixture in Portlaoise for almost 100 years.
The building was placed on the market in November of 2025 for €400,000. A sale agreed sign was erected on the building’s facade on Tuesday afternoon, May 12.
For sale through DNG Kelly, Charlie Keegan’s pub was operated by the same family from the 1950s to 2017 when it shut.
Since its closure, the business has fallen into disrepair, which led Laois County Council to issue a legal notice of dereliction to its owners in October 2023. It was eventually placed on the council's Derelict Sites Register in March 2024.
Some form of public house has operated for more than a century. According to the Pictures of Portlaoise website the Kearney family took it over in the 1900s before it changed hands to Patrick Cushen. Charlie Keegan took over the pub in 1956, later taken on by his widow Bernie.
An Architectural Survey carried out prior to its decay said its 'intact facade composition' render this site 'a highly important part of the early streetscape and makes a strong positive contribution to the architectural landscape'.
Keegan's faces another prominent vacant and derelict building on Main St - the old County Hotel. The building and adjoining property was bought by Laois County Council for social housing, but their plans have been hit with funding problems.
Another landmark pub, Egan's, shut in 2025 and was placed on the market by the O'Loughlin family soon afterwards.