Due to familial ill health, work travel and finally vanquishing most of the DIY monster that my house refurb has been in December, my revisits for the month consisted of two Christmas party venues; and one enjoyable wander around town - partially documented in another post.
1017068 Rascals - for Beoir
1001973 Gibson Hotel - for work
Today - the 29th of December - I had reason to walk back in to city centre from the South Docks, and I popped in to every pub on the way that was open. Which isn't that many.
But if I'd made the same walk at some point in the past - lets go for for 120 years ago - I would have passed enough that a pint per pub would probably have resulted in my hospitalisation.
The first pub I passed, and entered, is S0153 The Ferryman. This now currently reaches to the corner of John Rogersons Quay and Macken Street; but the corner unit with Macken Street was originally a separate pub. I last have it tracked as Floods in 1907 - while the Ferryman was Dunnes. The Ferryman expanded in to this unit quite some time ago.
Assuming a mid (19)00s walk, the next pub I am aware that we would have passed was Dunnes at 23 John Rogerons Quay. I have this tracked in the 1910s, but it is gone by the 1943 Thoms listing.
Not too far along, at 16 John Rogersons Quay, was the Twangman, last tracked by me in 1981. Next door was - and is, in so far as the building still exists - Columbia Mills, at 14-15; and I suspect this may have used the Twangman's licence. This famed nightclub isn't actually that well recorded, but appears as The Waterfront in this 1989 RTÉ footage.
As we keep walking in, we cross the quayside exit of the L-shaped Windmill Lane, the street that named the studios that moved 35 years ago; and then we come across the site of the docklands newest dead pub - The Jolly Roger at 8-11 John Rogersons Quay.
The late 80s/early 90s use of the since replaced buildings on this site was the Riverside Centre, a conference and events centre which contained a private rental only - but fully licenced as a conventional pub - bar called the Jolly Roger. I suspect this is somewhere close to the least recorded modern era pub to have existed in Dublin, albeit I know of some more with even less proof that they ever existed. This wasn't here in a putative 1905 walk, but it should be mentioned.
Almost next door, and only hanging on in our assumed 1905 walk, was Delaneys at number 6. I have tracked this as closing in 1906. However, actually next door to this, we can go in to one of Dublin's rare Lazarus pubs, 1017216 Dockers. This pub existed in the 1900s, as Farrells; and exists now - but was closed for over 15 years and assumed to be doomed to redevelopment. The current pub is twice the width and has a new interior as well as a new licence; but is on the site of a pub that existed in the past, with one of the names it traded under.
This in 2025 results in my second pint, as compared to at least 6 in 1905. We now cross on to City Quay, which has been heavily redeveloped and hence nothing remains of the next three pubs. At 43 would have been Dooleys, at 37 Walshs, and at 33 McEvoys.
The next pub along then was Coles at 24 City Quay, a site that like Colombia Mills before it, was far more important in its latter (and likely last) use as a licenced premises. This was the site of The Funnel, a dance music venue that was very important during its brief life of 1997-1999; but closed for good in 1999.
Continuing along, past the Matt Talbot Bridge that was over seven decades away in 1905, there is Lanigan's pub. Further along, and well in to Georges Quay, we hit Duncans - possibly gone by 1905 - and next door Smith's Shamrock House. We've gone quite a distance without a pint in 2025, versus a further 7 in 1905 (bringing us to 13), before we get to S0022 The Workshop, or Ryan's back then. It was closed today, however, so make that 14 for 2 for 1905.
The next pub we hit would have been Walshes at 4 Georges Quay, which was most latterly known as the Silver Swan. The licence from here was transferred, after its ramshackle tacked-on nightclub was deemed a fire hazard, to a new pub in a converted food factory in Artane.
That new premises retained the Silver Swan name for it's bar, but used the name Stardust for its large nightclub, a name that should remain etched in to the memories of everyone involved in the pub and entertainment industry in Ireland forevermore.
The next premises we pass was still a pub in the era which I have licencing records for; but I never visited it. Ennis's in 1905, otherwise S0020 The Dark Horse, or the White Horse depending on the specific era you remember it, was a noted indie gig venue that hosted an early Green Day gig and also latterly made good use of its early house licence to host dance music events on Bank Holiday Monday mornings. It closed as a pub less than six weeks before I began this blog, so we end up 17 for 2 at this point.
We're not done with notable premises just yet. The next pub along would have been The Scotch House then, and the Scotch House until its demise. A notable Irish Press journalist pub, and a striking lump of a building, this pub had vague Joycean connections to add literary connections to its fourth estate credentials. We continue.
Finally, finally, I get another pint. In S0005 JR Mahons - or the Crystal Bar, at the time of our 1905 walk - I can get house branded beers made by Hopkins & Hopkins (but no longer on-site, as they were when I made the visit written up in the link); and sit in a much modified premises that still shows some signs of its age.
S0967 the River Bar effectively next door is a "new" build from the 1960s, and probably a new licence from that time too - Powers (at our era), latterly McDaids White House which sat to the rear of the site presumably gave its licence to the exceptionally low numbered S0007 Soho in the basement of the building behind. This gave me enough reason to not need to include it on this trip - McDaid's didn't open to the quays, and the River Bar wasn't there in 1905!
3 pints for 20. I know which walk I'd have preferred to have done from a historical perspective; but I also know which one my doctor prefers that I did do!
I've noticed a trend, or at least enough specifics to take note, of Dublin pubs converting their upper floors in to guest accommodation of late
Pubs with rooms - "Inns" in common parlance - are clearly not a new thing, obviously; but weren't actually that common in Dublin. This is despite a number of pubs having Inn in their name, or their trading company name
Some pubs have been doing this for as long as I can remember, for instance S0029 O'Donoghues on Merrion Row has been offering accommodation bookings via their website for over 20 years; and S0031 O'Neills for 25. Additionally, small hotels - purpose built, or converted from large houses, and done deliberately to get around restrictions on opening new bars - were a thing for many decades, something else I intend to write about.
What I'm seeing now that I believe is a new trend is existing pubs putting in bedrooms. These are frequently, but not exclusively, going in as conversions of the pubs rarely used function rooms or music bar/nightclub spaces. These are features that many pubs had, but few pubs now maintain. Some are converting store rooms, or even extending in to adjacent spaces.
For cases of converting function rooms or other space in to guest rooms, an early enough example is N0214 McGettigans Queen Street, where the "Private Party Lounge" that those of us who used to Luas commute past it over 15 years ago can remember advertised, has been converted to bedrooms
Window sign from McGettigans from 2009 Streetview pass
The former S0067 JJ Smyths, now the Thomas Moore on Aungier Street also added bedrooms before reopening with it's new name. The much missed S1434 57 The Headline is to shortly reopen as the Libertine Lounge and Lodgings. S1762 The Laurels in Perrystown and S0279 Fitzgeralds in Monkstown both also have planning permission for similar works at the moment, with Fitzgerald's commencement notice having gone in during March.
There are also cases of existing apartments above a pub being offered as guest accommodation as part of the pub offering. One early example - but which I believe is gone now - was "Panti's Pads" above N0191 Pantibar. Other pubs with apartments above that are now rented out for hotel style use include two of Galway Bay Breweries premises - S0080 Bar Rua and S0083 Beer Temple.
Finally, while we're well aware of pubs (and in particular, nightclubs) being knocked and a hotel replacement being built; there are also cases of where a pub has been retained while a full scale hotel is built around it.
There's two notable cases of very big hotels - 1015221 Aloft which has basically eaten The Tenters; and the Dublin One Hotel which has done a much better job of retaining N0018 The Big Tree.
But there are two proposals - one of which seems to be underway - on the Quays which will be more like an Inn, in so far as the bar will still be large and retained. The repeatedly rejected 1002171 Merchants Arch hotel proposal has been very controversial, but by comparison, the N1066 Bachelor Inn hotel plan has basically gone un-noticed; despite having apparently begun work. This will make the Inn element of the name a bit more apt!
N1833 The Harbourmaster in the IFSC also had a proposal for a large enough hotel replacing some of their existing space; but this was rejected.
Wetherspoons has also converted space in their substantial N2538 Old Borough in Swords in to small (14 bed) hotel.
Animal Collective's latest, erm, not animal named bar was announced months, if not actually about a year, in advance - as the flagship tenant of the ground floor of the Bolands Mills development. And indeed, the bar is actually in the retained former mill structure.
Named, it seems, after one of the stage names of the musician also known as Caribou - Caribou being the name of their (lamented) original bar in Galway and its replacement in Dublin - this premises is quite like their others in Dublin, albeit everything in it is very new.
It is also exceptionally busy already - I was unable to get a seat *or* a perch and drank my pint standing. At 5:20. They have the staffing to cope with the crowds, and I presume there will be outdoor seating in summer - indeed there might have been some already, but it was way too cold to check.
It's close to my office so I'll almost certainly be back. The drinks lineup is good, and if I could actually have sat down I'd definitely have had a few more.
The pub's logo is a drawing of a dog, so possibly Daphni is actually a specific dog rather than a reference to Dan Snaith.
Very little of interest this month.
Additions:
1022517 Point A Hotel, Oliver Bond Street - I went in here some months ago when it had opened, asking if the bar was open to the public. It wasn't; but that may have been due to it not having a licence yet; and it now has a conventional Publicans (Ordinary) Hotel (Public Bar). I must revisit.
The trend of the day (well, year - years already even) for new pubs in Dublin is Old. As in the pub has to look as if it's been there for around 100 years.
Some places do a fairly good job of this, but are let down by how new everything looks - 1021705 Porters falls in to this category. Some, like the one at the other end of the same building (South City Markets) - 1020516 O'Regans do better, but miss in some way or another - the seating layout and the toilets aren't 'right' for me in O'Regans for whatever reason.
MJ Wrights doesn't suffer from these, though. Whether that is down to the experience of running some olde-worlde-style pubs within the Wright chain, possibly some re-use of fittings from their other premises, or just re-use of fittings from the Rustic Stone restaurant and winebar which formerly sat on this site; I don't know - but the pub feels suitably lived in for something only a week old when I visited it.
My complaints about the place are the prices - but it is the city centre - and the stools being too high at the large table-thingy towards the back. Not inauthenticity or trying too hard, like they so could have been.
A sad final entry for a regular on here, as November had my - and anyones - last visits to Underdog. Other than that, it was a very quiet month for pubs, old and new (one writeup to come) as I was away for most weekends
N0007 Clearys
N0099 Underdog
S3903 Pygmalion (Grogans was full!)
N0006 Brew Dock
