Squamish business beat: Copper Beach Bar + Kitchen brings Ireland to Britannia Beach

Blink and you could miss it while driving along the Sea to Sky Highway, but a mighty Irish pub is giving people a new reason to turn into Britannia Beach. 

William Donnellan and wife Laura of IRL Group opened Copper Beach Bar + Kitchen in September last year with the hopes of bringing Irish pub vibes to the Sea to Sky.

The company owns a string of Irish pubs across Vancouver, with their original venue, Donnellan’s Irish Pub, located on Granville Street. 

“I came here to B.C. in 2009 with my girlfriend at the time, Laura, who’s my wife now, and our group is called IRL. People always say ‘is IRL an abbreviation for Ireland’, and I say no, it means ‘It's Really Laura's’” Donnellan said with a laugh.

The duo started out as a construction group, running the Irish pub as more of a side hustle, which has since grown into their main hustle. 

But for Donnellan, the two job industries have been in his blood since birth. 

“In Ireland, my mom was involved in hospitality, Irish pubs, and my dad in construction. So that's how we got bitten by both bugs here,” he said.

“I'm a carpenter by trade. I also had a pub in Ireland from the age of 19 to 24, and that's when we came to Canada. But I have a real passion for hospitality and Irish pubs in particular, because that's our culture, that's our history.”

The venue

While it might have Irish flair, the building was once used as a dry room for the former Britannia Mine.

“The dry room was when the miners were working in the mine, and it was wet and damp, and at the end of the end of the day, they would go into the dry room and they would hang up all of their working clothes, and they'd put on their going home clothes, and they would head off home,” Donnellan said.

“When they would come in the next morning, their clothes would be dry and ready for work again. 

“So this building was moved from the mine and brought over here. The new footings, foundation and basement were all cast in place and the building was put on top of it, so it was all repurposed.”

When he was approached with an offer to view the potential business location, Donnellan said he couldn’t pass it up.

“You never know what might happen, I really believe that everything happens for a reason and nothing is a waste of time,” he said.

“We came up here to see the place and it was just basically a bare lot at the time … and we just said, this is a very special place.

“We saw the master plan, and we said, this is exciting. It's on the way up to Whistler, you've got seven million vehicles passing here every year [and if you can] get a small percentage of them to stop in, you could do OK.”

And by September 2024, Britannia Beach officially had a pub. 

What to expect

Good food, and even better vibes.

“We are a pub group. A lot of people think that this is a restaurant,” Donnellan said.

“Of course, any good pub has to have good food. The food might get your customers in but the Guinness will keep them.

“We sell a lot of Irish options like Guinness and Magners. You wouldn't believe how many people will come in for a Guinness. Then you have your chicken wings and your burgers and your Irish stew, and your fish and chips, the typical pub grub.”

As for what kind of demographic the pub is tailored towards, Donnellan insists everyone is welcome. 

“It's very casual, nothing fancy. You can come in your construction clothes covered in concrete, and you're going to be welcomed,” he said.

“We say, in Ireland, if somebody comes in and they leave concrete dust on the floor or mud from their muddy boots after coming off a wet construction site, in particular in the winter time … where there's muck, there's luck.”

One thing he hopes to organize in the future is signage along the highway, as people can often drive past without realizing the pub is there. 

“We need great signage on the highway out front, so people, if they miss it on the way up, at least they know it's here on the way back,” Donnellan said.

Community spirit

Since opening, the team at Copper Beach Bar has been around for two Highway 99 closures that halted many drivers' plans for an extended period of time. 

On Dec. 14, a landslide of mud and trees tumbled from Magnesia Creek spilling debris across Highway 99 at the north end of Lions Bay.

Donnellan said that his team brought food and drinks to first responders on the scene. 

“I was actually away in Ireland at a family wedding, when there was the landslide, which was so unfortunate ... it did such harm. But we went down there with food and drinks for the people that were down there, and particularly the emergency services,” he said.

“We brought them down some hot food, some drinks, [because] that's how you support your community.”

Then on Feb. 9, when Highway 99 was blocked again in both directions near Murrin Provincial Park, the venue kept their doors open for customers to stay warm and dry.

As the weather warms up, Donnellan plans to open up the patio to customers, with live music and trivia nights held weekly.

Copper Beach Bar + Kitchen is open seven days a week and can be found at 101 Main Street, Britannia Beach.

The Squamish Business Beat was developed in response to local demand for more business-focused news. To be considered, please reach out to [email protected].