Irish Pub · Bordeaux

First project

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Prepared by Víg Márton

The Connemara Proposal
The ConnemaraProposal

The Connemara Irish Pub · 18 Cours d’Albret

A digital presence that matches the pub

This proposal is for the first project only: a real website, a way to keep regulars, slides on the TVs when there is no match, help with Facebook and Instagram, and a page for the upstairs rooms. It is built from what we found about this pub — not a generic list of restaurant tools.

Prepared
Víg Márton
Date
19 August 2026
Valid until
18 September 2026

Overview

Your requests, and the issues we found

This first project has two jobs. Everything below is judged against them — not against a generic “restaurants should be more digital” list.

01
Bring people in, and keep them

Guests who already want an Irish pub, a match, a quiz or a room should find you — then have a reason to come back on a quiet night, not only when Facebook happens to show them a post.

02
Give managers their hours back

The weekly board, the posts, the hours, the “are you open Monday?” questions — those should not eat a manager’s week. The floor comes first.

What is holding the pub back today

Facebook and Google reviews are already strong. The gaps are elsewhere: there is no public page that tells the truth, the basic facts do not agree, the audience lives on someone else’s platform, the upstairs rooms are almost never advertised, and keeping the week visible is still hand work.

The public face

There is no working website

A walk-in Irish pub does not need an online shop or a booking engine. It is fair to ask why a website would matter at all — Facebook already has about 11,000 people, Google already has 4.4 from more than 2,500 reviews, and most guests decide with their feet.

The website is not there to replace the room. It is there so you stop leaking people who were already looking for you. A tourist types “irish pub Bordeaux”. A group asks ChatGPT where to watch rugby. Someone who saw you on Instagram wants hours, the menu, or the upstairs rooms. None of those people start inside your Facebook page. Google still sends them to connemara-pub.com, a leftover from 2004. The page you have been using as a “site” is an English-only Adobe brochure. Other English pubs in town already have real sites with hours, menus and calendars.

Facebook is a noticeboard you rent. The algorithm decides who sees a post. A website is the one page you own: hours, menu, allergens, what’s on, how to phone — in French first, English too. It is also the front door for the rest of this project: a box to subscribe to the newsletter, and a dedicated page so the upstairs rooms are a product people can find — not something they stumble on. Without that page, there is nowhere public to join the list or to ask for a room except a phone call in the Saturday crush. ChatGPT guesses or cites a rival, and staff cannot say “it’s on the site” and mean it.

Social

Facebook works. Posting is not consistent enough

The voice already works: bilingual, human, not a tourist brochure. Instagram (~3,000) is smaller and still useful. The gap is rhythm. Writing, remembering the drinks-ad rules, finding a photo, posting at a decent hour — that is real time. Then several days go by and the page looks asleep even when the room was full. Guests who only see you in the feed miss the week you already paid for.

Name, address, phone, hours

The basic facts do not agree

Guests, Google and ChatGPT use a short set of facts to find you: the name, the address, the phone, the hours. In the trade this is called NAP — name, address, phone — plus opening times. Yours do not match. Google, the Adobe page and Linktree say Monday closed. Instagram still says Monday open. Sunday hours and happy hour also drift across directories. When the facts fight, people assume you are closed, they go next door, or they phone during service to ask a question the internet should have answered.

The list you do not own

No newsletter, and no loyalty programme

There is no email list we could find, and no simple quiet-night perk — for example “10 visits, one on us,” or a similar gift you prefer. The people who like you live on Facebook. That audience is not yours: Facebook can hide a post, change the rules, or reach fewer of those 11,000 next month. You cannot reliably tell regulars that Ireland is on Saturday, or give them a reason to come back on a dead Tuesday, without hoping they saw a story.

The upstairs rooms

They are not advertised. People find them by chance.

Two rooms upstairs can be hired for an afterwork, a birthday, a small meeting, a stag. Today that offer is almost invisible. Guests usually discover it by walking upstairs, or because someone at the bar happens to mention it. There is no page a group in Bordeaux can search for, and no clear public pitch.

That is likely the largest missed opportunity in this first project. Hire can bring money in exactly when the pub needs it: on quieter sessions, when the rooms do not have to stay open for the general public. On a packed match night they are overflow, not a private booking. So the revenue you want from them is quiet-night revenue — and it only arrives if people know the rooms exist before they walk in.

Manager time

The weekly board and the online presence are still hand work

Someone still has to write the week, keep Facebook and Instagram alive, and answer the same questions — hours, what’s on, is the upstairs free. That is valuable manager time on repetitive digital chores — time that could be spent on productive or creative work. The floor should not wait on a login. The first project is also about shrinking that job, not adding another system a manager has to run by hand.

Solutions

What we propose

Five pieces. Each one answers a problem above. We build the website — that is the pub’s public face, and it has to tell the same truth in French and English, to Google and to ChatGPT. We buy the tools that already do email, a stamp card, TV slides, and a social calendar. A manager always stays in control: nothing is posted or sent without a human yes.

  1. 01 A real website Fixes the missing public face and becomes the one place hours, address, phone and the week are written. Google is pointed here, not at 2004. The site is also the front door for the rest of the project: a form to subscribe to the newsletter, and a dedicated page that turns the upstairs rooms into something advertised and discoverable (with a form to enquire).
  2. 02 A newsletter and a simple stamp card A list you own, for people who said yes — so Facebook is no longer the only way to reach regulars. Stamps fill quiet nights, not nights that are already sold.
  3. 03 Slides on the TVs When there is no match, the screens you already paid for sell tonight, the food, and the upstairs rooms — so people already in the building learn they can hire them, instead of finding out by chance.
  4. 04 Facebook and Instagram drafts Posts in the voice you already have, on a calendar — including the rooms, so hire is advertised and not only mentioned at the bar. A manager reads them and says yes. Nothing publishes itself.
  5. 05 The upstairs rooms — a page and a form Turn the rooms into a product: a dedicated page, photos, a form. People stop finding them by chance. Hire is only when the pub is not already full — that is when you need the extra money. No online booking, no deposit. A manager still says yes or no.

The five pieces are below, in full: the problem, what it is worth to the pub, how we set it up, and how a manager uses it on a normal week. Numbers come later, once the work is clear.

The five pieces

How each piece works

For each item: the problem today, what it is worth, how we implement it, and either what it should achieve or how a manager uses it on a normal week. Jump to one, or read them in order.

  1. 01 A real website French first, English too. The one page Google and ChatGPT should quote.
  2. 02 Newsletter and a stamp card People who said yes. A quiet-night stamp card — or a similar perk you set.
  3. 03 Slides on the TVs When there is no match: tonight, the rooms, the food.
  4. 04 Facebook and Instagram drafts Your voice. A manager says yes. Nothing publishes itself.
  5. 05 The upstairs rooms A product people can find. Hire on quiet nights. No online booking.
01

A real website

Anyone who searches for an Irish pub, a match, a quiz or a room in Bordeaux — on Google or by asking ChatGPT — should get you, not a leftover page from 2004.

The problem today

There is no working commercial website. Google still sends people to connemara-pub.com, which looks like 2004. The page you have been using as a “site” is an English-only Adobe brochure. Hours do not agree: Google and that brochure say Monday closed; Instagram still says Monday open. Other English pubs in town already have real sites with menus and calendars.

Facebook (~11,000 people) and Google reviews (4.4 from more than 2,500) are strong. They cannot replace a page that tells the truth in French and English — hours, menu, allergens, what’s on this week, how to phone, how to ask about a room. ChatGPT and similar tools cannot reliably cite you, so they guess or they cite a rival.

Why this is worth it

You stop leaking people you already earned the right to have: the tourist who searched “irish pub Bordeaux”, the group who asked ChatGPT where to watch rugby, the birthday that never found the upstairs rooms because nobody advertised them. The site does not replace Facebook. It is the spine everything else in this project hangs on — events, newsletter signup, and a dedicated rooms page so hire is discoverable, later extras if you want them.

How we implement it

We build the site. We do not squeeze it into Squarespace or Wix. Those look fine on day one and then fight bilingual legal pages, a weekly calendar, and the extra marks Google and ChatGPT need. You get a simple private editing screen: change the hours, this week’s band, a dish, a photo — without calling us every time.

Pages, in both languages, French first:

  • Home — what it is, where, tonight’s useful fact
  • Menu as real text (not a PDF phones cannot read), plus the 14 allergens the law wants in writing
  • What’s on — quiz, trad, open stage, bands, comedy
  • Sports — Irish pub, rugby and football, multiple screens, Bordeaux (a page-per-match factory can wait)
  • The two upstairs rooms (piece 05)
  • Frequent questions, contact (map, 05 56 52 82 57), and the legal pages France requires

Cookies: Accept and Reject are equal. The newsletter box starts empty; sending a room enquiry is not a signup. If a happy hour names alcohol, the same deal exists for a soft drink. We put on the site whatever you confirm for Monday — we will not guess.

This is not a booking website and not a shop. Dinner stays walk-in. Lunch stays on the phone.

Expected results

We do not promise a ranking or a number of covers. We do expect the site to do the jobs the pub cannot do with Facebook alone:

  • Someone who searches Google — or asks ChatGPT — for an Irish pub, a quiz, a match or a room in Bordeaux gets you, not the 2004 leftover and not a rival.
  • Hours, address and phone are written once, in French first and in English. Google is pointed at this site, not at 2004. The week on the page matches the week in the room.
  • The menu is readable on a phone, with the 14 allergens in writing — not a PDF that does not open on the tram.
  • The newsletter has a public door: people who want the list can join without living on Facebook.
  • The upstairs rooms become a page people can find and enquire about, instead of something they discover by walking upstairs.
  • Instagram and Facebook have a real page to land on. Staff can say “it’s on the site” and mean it.
02

A newsletter, and a simple stamp card

People who asked get a useful email. Regulars who come back on quiet nights get a stamp card on their phone — for example “10 visits, one on us,” or a similar perk you prefer — not a paper card that dies in a jacket.

The problem today

Facebook does not reach everyone, and it does not belong to you. There is no email list we could find, and no simple reason to come back on a dead Tuesday instead of “we’ll see.”

Why this is worth it

The list is yours. When Ireland is on Saturday, you can tell people who already like you — not hope they saw a story. The stamp card fills the nights that are not already full. Together they keep regulars as a habit, without a “club app” you have to explain for five minutes.

How we implement it

Newsletter. A box on the new website, wired to Brevo (a French email tool — the post office for marketing mail). We do not build a mail system. Those fail, and then nobody can leave the list. French law: the box starts unchecked; you keep proof they said yes; one click and they are out. Asking for lunch or a room is not permission to mail them. A manager sees the list and presses send. In this first project, a human still presses send.

Stamp card. Before we buy anything, we look at the till. If it already does stamps or points, we use that — one system at the bar. If it does not: a small French wallet card (Apple Wallet / Google Wallet). The manager taps or scans once. A typical rule is ten off-peak visits, then a pint or a dish — or a similar perk you set (a soft drink, a dessert, a different count). We do not stamp sold-out Ireland nights or a packed UBB Saturday. The manager can always say no. We do not start WhatsApp newsletters.

How you use it

A guest ticks the box on the site and gets a mail when there is something real — not every Monday for the sake of it. A regular at the bar opens their phone; someone stamps; that is it. Once a week or less, a manager writes or approves a short mail: this week’s trad, or “Ireland Saturday 15:00.”

03

Slides on the TVs

The screens are for sport first. When there is no match, they can sell tonight, the rooms, and the food to people already in the building.

The problem today

You already paid for the hardware. Guests already look up. When football is off, the screens are often wasted: a logo, a mute menu, or nothing. The upstairs rooms have no place in the room except a conversation at the bar — which is how most people find them today, by chance.

Why this is worth it

This is the cheapest audience you have: people who already walked in. A slide that says “Friday trad, 21:00” or “two rooms upstairs — ask when the pub is quieter” does the pitch before anyone has time. Guests who would hire a room on a dead Tuesday learn it exists without stumbling upstairs. You use dead air on screens you already own. Sport always wins — we will not cover a match.

How we implement it

We rent a simple player (PosterBooking or Yodeck) and put a small stick or box on one to three screens that can be promo-only — entrance, behind the bar, upstairs landing. You tell us which. We do not hang a second computer on every match feed. That is how you lose the rugby.

We design a short pack of slides from the same facts as the website, so the Saturday band cannot be wrong on the TV and right on the site. Six to ten seconds each. French drinks rules: no lifestyle “party pints” video. Safer slides are the night, the food, the rooms, a match listing, a happy hour that also names a soft drink.

A half-time takeover on a sport TV is a later physical HDMI button, if you want it — one press, not a login during service. Not in the first install unless you ask.

How you use it

A guest walking in sees tonight before anyone pitches. When the week changes, a manager replaces the Saturday band slide. Staff do not open an app in the crush. If you later add the half-time button, they press it, slides run, the match comes back.

04

Facebook and Instagram — drafts you approve

Posts in the voice you already have. A manager reads them and says yes. Only then do they go out. Nothing publishes itself.

The problem today

Facebook is the big channel (~11,000). Instagram is smaller (~3,000) and still useful. The voice already works: bilingual, human, not a tourist brochure. The pain is time — sitting down to write, remember the drinks-ad rules, find a photo, post at a decent hour. Then nine days go by and the page looks asleep even when the room was full.

Why this is worth it

You keep the voice that already built that audience. You stop the hole where nobody posted. You never wake up to a machine that published the wrong hours or a drink ad a lawyer would hate. Fifteen minutes, once or twice a week, instead of a Sunday night at the kitchen table.

How we implement it

We write a short voice pack from about twenty posts you already published: words you use, words you never use, no stock clovers, French and English, no “party pints” lifestyle. A calendar called Metricool talks to Facebook, Instagram, and if you want, Google. We (or the tool, after the pack exists) draft three or four posts for the week: quiz, trad, a dish, a match you are really showing, and the upstairs rooms — so hire is advertised in the feed, not only mentioned if someone asks.

A manager opens the calendar, edits, rejects, or taps approve. Then it posts. If nobody approves, nothing goes out. That is the point. We do not build a private Facebook robot — those break when Meta changes the rules. Live stories on a full night still go out by hand.

How you use it

Once or twice a week: read four drafts, change a time or a name, tap yes. If something is wrong, skip. The tool does not argue. Safer posts under French rules: the gig, the food, the rooms, the listing.

05

The upstairs rooms — a page and a form

Today people find the upstairs by chance. We turn the rooms into a product that is advertised and discoverable — hired on quieter nights, when they are not needed for the public.

The problem today

Two rooms upstairs can be privatized. They are useful for an afterwork, a birthday, a small meeting, a stag — and as overflow when a match fills the ground floor. They are not advertised. People who would hire them usually find the opportunity by chance: they walk upstairs, or someone at the bar happens to mention it. There is no page to search, and phone-only “is the upstairs free?” dies in the Saturday crush.

That is likely the biggest commercial gap in this project. The rooms can only be booked when the pub is not so busy that they must stay open to everyone. On a packed night they are public overflow. The money they can make is therefore quiet-night money — exactly when the till needs it — and it does not arrive if nobody knows the rooms exist.

Why this is worth it

You stop leaving hire to luck. A dedicated page, the site, the TVs and the odd social post turn the rooms into a product people can find. Saying out loud that a big match night may turn the rooms public avoids “but I booked upstairs.” You keep the same judgement as today — yes or no — with fewer “I couldn’t get through,” and with enquiries that arrive on the nights you can actually take them.

How we implement it

Built into the website (piece 01). One page or one page per room: photos, roughly how many seated and standing, what the room is for, and that honest match-night line. A short form: name, email, phone, date, how many heads, which room if they care, a message. It goes to an inbox a manager already reads. An automatic reply says we have the message and will get back — not a confirmation, not a hold.

No online calendar, no deposit, no Stripe, no TheFork, no Calendly. Those are booking machines. They fight a walk-in pub. If you ever want deposits, that is a later, separate conversation.

How you use it

A guest finds “rooms” on the site or on Google — not by walking upstairs — and sends the form instead of hoping someone picks up at 14:00. A manager looks at the diary and replies. Same decision as today: yes when it is quiet enough, no when the rooms must stay public. On a final Saturday the page already warned that the rooms might be overflow.

Investment

What the pub would pay

Amounts are estimates, before VAT, 2026. “Once” is our work. “Per month” is a subscription that keeps going, usually on your own accounts so the tools belong to the pub.

Once
4,500–9,500 €

Design, build, setup for all five pieces. The range exists because a few facts are still open (the till, the menu, how many TVs can be promo-only).

Then, each month
40–150 €

The tools, paid to their makers — not a retainer unless you ask for one. Email, optional stamps, social calendar, slides, hosting.

Calendar
3–6 weeks

After hours, a menu, and a few room photos. The build can start earlier; the site should not go public with the wrong Monday.

Item Once Per month
Website + rooms page + form + search extras + legal 4,000–8,000 € 0–40 €
Cookie banner + simple visitor count 0–29 €
Newsletter (Brevo) 15–40 €
Stamp card, only if the till cannot 0–29 €
Social calendar + voice pack 500–1,000 € ~20 €
2–3 promo screens (hardware + player) 100–250 € 0–24 $
All five About 4,500–9,500 € About 40–150 €

The range is not padding. It moves when we know the till, how complete the menu and photos are, and how many TVs can be promo-only. After those answers we can lock a single number before we start.

How we would bill

Half at the start, half when the site is live and the tools are in your hands. You never pay a phase in full before you can use it. If you prefer one invoice, say so — it is the same work.

Timeline

Three to six weeks after the facts we must not guess

  1. Before we build in public Confirm Monday hours. Decide whether we keep connemara-pub.com or start a new name. Someone who can still open Google Maps.
  2. Weeks 1–2 Site structure, legal pages, rooms page and form, the week as you run it now.
  3. Weeks 2–4 Menu, newsletter, voice pack, first slide set. Training: how to change a band name on a Monday.
  4. Weeks 4–6 Promo screens live. Google pointed at the new site, not 2004. You approve the first week of posts.

Terms

What’s in this proposal, and what waits

The prices include

  • Design, build, and the bilingual pages listed above
  • The rooms page and the contact form
  • Setup of email, the social calendar, and the slide player
  • A voice pack from your existing posts
  • A short handoff so a manager can edit hours and the week

They do not include

  • Monthly fees to Brevo, Metricool, hosting, or the slide tool — those are yours, at the figures above
  • Online dinner booking, deposits, or a booking engine
  • Fanzo, a voice on the landline, automatic match emails, or a “Monday control screen” — those are later extras, if you want them
  • Ongoing community management, unless we agree a retainer later
  • Photography beyond a simple walkthrough if you have no pictures

From you

We can start without a perfect file. We should not launch with the wrong Monday.

A longer list is on its way separately. For this first project to go public, three things actually matter:

  • Opening hours, especially Monday (Google and Instagram do not agree today)
  • Whether you own connemara-pub.com, or we buy a new address
  • Who can still log into Google (the Maps page with the stars)

The menu, room names, till, and who taps “yes” on posts decide how complete week one is — not whether we can begin the build.

Next step

If this is the right first project

Reply, or we talk it through. No need to answer every question first. If the hours, the domain, and the Google login are clear, we can lock a single number and start.

This proposal is valid until 18 September 2026. That is a working window, not a push: after that the calendar and the tool prices should be checked again.