This exciting community project began in 2020. A property that had previously been a thriving Bar Lounge, Restaurant and Night Club came on to the market. Whilst the building had been unused for a number of years, the local community believed it could be reinstated to its former glory.
Take a walk with us down Memory Lane.
A volunteer committee was established and €100,000 was raised to enable the purchase of the facility as a civic space for the community. The property was secured at Public Auction in September 2020 at a cost of €80,000 (including VAT, stamp duty, registration fees, legal fees and accounting fees).
With remaining funds of €20,000 and a large group of willing volunteers we were ready to start!
Phase 1 (Complete): The Three Hills Café
Work commenced in 2021 when volunteers from across the community came together to transform what was the old restaurant into what is now the Three Hills Café.
The Café is open every Saturday & Sunday between 10am & 2pm and has recently been made available for the community outside of these hours.
As a community led initiative, we wanted our local community to be an integral part of the development of the hub space. We asked our local schools to come up with a name and a new identity for our café.
The committee would like to thank Cillian Brennan for coming up with such a fantastic new name and logo inspired by the beautiful hills that our area is surrounded by – Muckelty, Dohern and of course the beautiful Knocknashee.
Phase 2 (Complete): Multi-purpose Function Room
The former nightclub was transformed into a bright multi-purpose Function Room.
The Function Room is used for events by a number of groups in the community — Coolaney/Mullinabreena, St. Nathys GAA Clubs and was recently the venue for Operation Transformation when 52 people from across the community participated in the 8 week programme.
Phase 3 (Ongoing): Social Club
The next phase is to redevelop the Bar & Lounge area to be operated as a Social Club.
There is extensive work required in order to develop this section of the facility, which will be finished to the usual high standard set by our team of volunteers. It will be a social amenity for future generations to gather to celebrate family and community events for years to come.
In order to get Phase 1 and 2 of this project completed, members of the community volunteered in excess of 2,000 hours. The feedback from everyone that has visited either the Café or the Function Room since they opened in December 2021 has been extremely positive, with everyone really appreciative of the transformation that has taken place in such a short space of time.
If you can and would like to help us continue on this exciting journey for our community we would greatly appreciate your support.
