Donegal musician Rory Gallagher has found a new “lease” on life for his Lanzarote live performances.
Rory, along with his wife Cara, already operate a number of live venues, with Rory’s Corner Bar in Lanzarote as well as BAR 13 in Edinburgh, Scotland – but they’ve now added to that portfolio.
On social media, Rory announced that after 12 months the the Rory and the Island gigs at Rory’s Corner Bar had very quickly out-grown the venue’s size due to their popularity!
Rory and Cora therefore have now taken on a 10 year lease at one of the longest-running Irish bars in Lanzarote at The Irish Viking Bar.
“As you know over the past 12 months I have been struggling to gig in our own wee bar in Lanzarote (Rory’s Corner Bar) due to overcrowding… well… Cara and Myself are just buzzing to announce that we have taken on a 10 year lease for ‘The Irish Viking Bar’. A stunning old bar right in the heart of Puerto Del Carmen that holds up to 180 people! So we can breathe again, and I can book as many gigs as I want,” Rory wrote on social media.
“We will also be bringing our current brilliant line up of musicians from The Corner Bar to join us such as Mick Garry, Pedro, Conor Sloane, Jackie Brennan, Joey Bracken and they will hopefully be joined by the likes of the fantastic Collie Farrell who gigs in the Viking already!”
Rory also paid tribute to the long-time owner and operator of the Irish Viking Bar in Lanzarote, Terry Rodgers, for giving them the chance to operate it.
“On a personal note Myself and Cara would like to thank Terry Rodgers who owned and ran The Viking since 1986! He gave us such an amazing deal we would not be able to take on this big venture without his kindness and understanding of circumstances, And I know he turned down better offers so it really does mean a lot so Thank you Terry for choosing us to captain your beautiful old ship, Our family cannot wait for the voyage.”
“The fact (that) it has been running since 1986 and is the oldest Irish bar in PDC we have decided NOT to change the name and furthermore keep all the classic vintage irish signs and pub paraphernalia that Terry has built up over the 40 years, it is reminiscent of the cool Dead Rabbit bar in NYC with its sawdust on the floor vibe, We will just add to it …new signs… maybe a Donegal flag or 3!”
“It will be closed for a while at the start of April to transition and reset. We will then have a soft launch and i will be doing my fist set of gigs there from April 18th to April 25th.”
“It’s been a slow slog since we lost badly on ‘The Wildcat Bar’ in Scotland during the 2020 Pandemic but over the last few years with all your support for the likes of the Lockdown sessions… the touring… Rory’s Corner Bar and Bar13 Edinburgh it feels like we are getting back on our feet.”