Historic NI venue once owned by Winston Churchill to become island of Ireland’s first ‘whiskey hotel’

It was once owned by Winston Churchill – now the Londonderry Arms in Co Antrim will become Ireland’s first ‘whiskey hotel’ in a £2m investment.

Hotelier Adrian McLaughlin, distiller Darryl McNally and businessman Carl Harrison announced their purchase of the Londonderry Arms in Carnlough earlier this month.

Now they’ve announced they will invest £1.75m to refurbish the venue into Ireland’s first whiskey hotel, also bringing 15 new jobs.

They are the hotel’s first new owners in 75 years after buying it from the O’Neill family.

Mr McNally said the hotel would unite the Irish whiskey community and would include a retail Whiskey Chamber stocked with 400 bottles of whiskey, and merchandise.

The spirit would be an “integral” part of the hotel, he said, down to nightcaps from an unfiltered Limavady Whiskey cask.

Mr McLaughlin said they planned to recruit a general manager, trainee manager and marketing manager.

There would also be three new full-time roles and up to 10 other new posts.

He added: “This is a good news story for the region and we are confident that we will be making a tangible difference to the village of Carnlough.”

The refurbishment will be completed by Easter 2025, he said.

Previous owners of the building include the Marchioness of Londonderry Frances Ann Vane Tempest, who oversaw its creation in 1848 as a coaching inn, and Winston Churchill, who inherited the property in 1921. The former Prime Minister’s deeds of ownership are on display in the hotel.

Husband and wife Frank and Moira O’Neill family bought it in 1947, and it built a reputation for locally-sourced food.

They passed the business onto their son Frankie, who worked alongside his wife Denise to develop the hotel over the course of his tenure.

After Frankie’s death, Denise continued to manage the hotel over the last number of years, before it was put on the market in 2023 and bought by its new owners.