New report shows full extent of pub closures in Mayo
A new report shows that since 2005 the number of pubs in the Mayo has declined by 29.8%.
In 2005, there were 467 pubs in Mayo, but by 2025, that number had dropped to 328. Between 2019 and 2025, the number of pubs in the county fell by 11.8% with 44 fewer pubs operating in Mayo.
The report, compiled by economist and Associate Professor Emeritus at DCU, Anthony Foley, shows that nationwide an average of 110 pubs stopped trading every year over the last two decades.
A quarter of pubs in Ireland have closed in the last 20 years, with the report showing that 2,205 premises have closed since 2005.
Elsewhere in the West, there are 148 fewer pubs in Galway, a 25.8% decline. In 2005, there were 574 public houses in Galway compared to 426 last year. Between 2019 and 2025, the number of Galway pubs fell by 9.7% with 46 bars closing.
Roscommon pub numbers have fallen by 32.7% with 83 less public houses compared to two decades ago. In Co Sligo, pub numbers have dwindled by 24.6% with 44 licenced premises gone from the Yeats County since 2005.
Every county in the country has seen the number of pubs decrease, with the biggest drop seen in Limerick, with 37.2% pubs closing since 2005. Over a third of pubs in Offaly have closed since 2005, at 34.1%, while 32.7% of pubs have closed in the last 20 years in Cork.
The county with the fewest amount of pubs closed is Dublin, with a drop of 1.1 per cent, followed by Wicklow with 9.5 per cent of pubs closing.
The number of pubs that closed last year was 86, up from 65 in 2024 but down from 117 in 2023.
Commenting on the report, Professor Foley said: “Over the past 20 years the Irish economy has grown substantially, including large employment, consumption and adult population increases, despite multiple economic shocks and geopolitical disruption.
“This growth should have supported the alcohol and public house sectors. However, both alcohol consumption and pub sales volumes declined substantially.
"The level of alcohol taxation is very high in Ireland, which alongside rising costs and changing consumer trends, reduces the commercial viability of public houses.
“It is likely that pub closures will continue in the absence of any change in Government policy. Even in the absence of additional significant economic shocks, an optimistic scenario would expect about 600 additional closures in the next decade from 2024. More pessimistic expectations would increase the closure level to 1,000," he predicted.
