Courtesy of the Marlay House
Last October, the owners of the Grange Public House in Decatur received a letter from the National Grange, an agricultural advocacy group, challenging their rights to the name “Grange.” If they chose to, they could pay an annual fee for the naming rights.
Instead the owners — siblings Colin, Darren and Jen Comer — decided to rename their popular Irish pub, opening the effort to the public in a “Rename the Grange” contest.
On Saturday evening before a crowd of 350 people, the new name was revealed by Decatur mayor Bill Floyd. A sheet dropped to reveal a new sign reading “The Marlay.” The full name is the Marlay House, which refers to a famous 18th Century Georgian-style mansion on the outskirts of Dublin. Why reference this building?
“Because it was called the Grange before that,” says Colin Comer. “Then this French fellow [David La Touche, governor of the Bank of Ireland] bought it and changed the name of the Grange to the Marley House for his …