Avoca Handweavers is to expand its cafe and lifestyle shop empire with a new outlet on the outskirts of Lucan village in west Dublin.

South Dublin County Council has given permission to Avoca to change the former Foxhunter pub on the southbound side of the N4 motorway into a shop and restaurant.

The new branch will be primarily used as a food market, Avoca managing director Simon Pratt said, with about 30 per cent of the space devoted to a cafe and 10 per cent to a craft shop. It will be similar to its Monkstown branch, Salt@Avoca, and more modest than its flagship development at Rathcoole, Co Dublin, currently the closest branch to Lucan.

Spring opening

Work to the pub will be internal only and the new outlet is expected to open next spring, employing about 50 staff. The Foxhunter closed in December 2012 and had been in the hands of receiver Tom Kavanagh prior to its recent sale to Avoca for an undisclosed sum.

A pub has stood on the site since the 19th century. Planning permission was granted in 2006 for the construction of 14 houses in its grounds, but the development never went ahead and permission lapsed.

The Foxhunter was sold in 2007 for a sum reported to be in the region of €17 million. However following several years of declining trade it closed just over two and a half years ago.

The property has remained boarded up since. Local Fine Gael councillor William Lavelle welcomed its reopening as an Avoca outlet.

“Development of this vacant premises and site will be very welcome and an Avoca store will be a fantastic addition to Lucan, in terms of both profile and the employment boost.”

The Lucan shop will be the 12th branch of the Wicklow-based company which started out as a handweaving mill in 1723.