Expat opens nightclub inspired by Cork's iconic Sir Henry's in Perth

AN expat in Perth has created the next best thing to time travel with a nightclub inspired by the iconic Sir Henry's.

Nonetheless, diehard fans of the Cork city nightclub-which shut in 2003 and was later demolished- will have to travel further afield to visit its Australian namesake. 

Sir Henry’s, which incorporates everything from original photographs to a replicated logo, opened in Northbridge’s Lake Street last week to considerable fanfare. 

The establishment is the brainchild of Galway-born former DJ Ian Jeffrey, who grew up in Cork and has fond memories of the nightclub.

Sir Henry’s was a popular venue in the 1990s known for its house, trance, R&B, hip hop and regular live music.

The idea to recreate the Sir Henry’s experience came from a beverage Ian created with his uncle named Sir Henry’s Stout. 

After striking gold at the Perth Beer Awards, Ian set to work creating a venue of the same name.

He spoke about his excitement to PJ Coogan on Cork 96 FM’s The Opinion Line following the club’s opening last week.

“Since I have been in there over the weekend there must have been at least 10 people from Cork who recognised it straight away even though it hadn’t been advertised. We are not the fully Irish-themed bar you normally see abroad but there is no confusion from people asking why we would call it Sir Henry’s. If you know you know.” 

He admits that recreating the Sir Henry’s signature look was challenging.

“It was quite hard because I did it from an old photograph,” he told The Opinion Line. “I got a graphic designer to try and bring it back to life and he did a fantastic job. That was obviously the one that was inside the building above the stage. In the venue here we have photographs of Kurt Cobain and the original logos behind the original photographs.” 

Mr Jeffrey is calling on Corkonians with any Sir Henry’s memorabilia to contact him.

“There was a man who reached out to me who has one of the original Sir Henry’s flags. We must touch base with him again and tell him we are open and ask if there is any chance of us getting it.”

The nightclub owner is looking forward to the months ahead.

“We haven’t done the house or dance night yet,” he told PJ Coogan. “That will be this weekend which we are very excited about. There are a lot of Cork DJs who come into me already who play a lot of house and they are keen to play a few sets. We are definitely going to give them a shot. I had been in touch with Stevie G. This has come to light a lot faster than we had planned. I had been in touch with Stevie G before all this went down. Stevie was coming out in March and we were going to do a reunion night anyway. That’s still on the cards. Stevie is still keen to come out for a week and do a couple of nights to promote the club. It will be a bit of fun I reckon.”