In Cobh, an old cobbler shop has been reimagined as a café and wine bar
The doors officially open on Thursday.
And after a mammoth renovation project that saw parts of an ancient Cobh building carefully and gently restored, the couple behind The Arch is ready to show off their new café and wine bar to locals and visitors.
Jean-Paul Frenett and his partner Claire O’Regan have been working on the venture in historic Casement Square for 18 months, removing internal plaster to reveal the beautiful stone walls, clearing the overgrown garden, and scrubbing and repairing each of the original tiles.
“It was an old cobbler shop, and the building is from 1855,” Frenett told Yay Cork.
“What we didn’t realise is that the renovation would have to go so far as laying a concrete floor (it was just earth beneath!), installing electrics and water, and replacing the whole front and back!”
Here’s a peek at a ‘before’ photo, which shows how far they’ve come.
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The name, now etched in beautiful gold lettering on the window by Laurynas Damijonaitis of Dami Designs, has a lovely bit of history to it too:
“It’s called the Arch after a cinema my father used to run (opened by his father) around the corner in Cobh (the Arch Cinema). So the byline is ‘est in 1932, re-est in2023’.” Frenett added.
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The Arch is serving coffee and pastries from 8am, sandwiches and toasties for lunch, and a rather good wine list with meat and cheese boards, and other snacks in the evening up until 10pm.
