1023254 The Burton

This pub was sitting ready to open in Autumn 2024. Bar stocked, menus on the table, the works. But it didn't open.

It "opened", giving out free drinks, on Bloomsday (June 16th) 2025, saying it would open soon. It didn't open.

Paperwork and compliance issues were preventing something in the legal process required to open a pub from finishing, so the pub sat empty.

But a few months ago, new recruitment signs went up in the windows, indicating that things may have finally been resolved. And they were, as the pub opened on June 25th - with the July licence file drop two weeks later actually providing the licence number too. Long term readers may know that sometimes I get to visit somewhere new many months before the Revenue file provides a number for whatever reason!

And I missed that opening, because for whatever reason the social media accounts they had used for the 2025 promotional "opening" were not in use any more and I had not found the new ones. But I was doing a check of my pipeline list which lead me to discover it had already opened; and as I happened to be very nearby anyway, I was there within 15 minutes.

This is a small hotel, however the bar does not feel like a hotel bar and there is no obvious reception area. The drinks options are quite generic, but but reasonably priced for the city centre; the food looked fine but I didn't partake.

Revisited pubs June 2026

I spent much of the month quite far away from Dublin, but I got a relatively decent amount of revisits in regardless. 

N0006 Brew Dock, Amiens Street
N0053 Graingers, Amiens Street
S3178 Street 66, Parliament Street
S1465 Dudleys, Thomas Street
S1468 Thomas House, Thomas Street
S0264 O'Loughlins, Dun Laoghaire - all changed, changed utterly... well, it now has a modern till. And a modern outdoor area. But the front bar isn't drastically different.
S0296 Kelly & Cooper, Blackrock
S0295 Jack O'Rourkes, Blackrock
S0298 Old Punchbowl, Booterstown
N0007 Clearys, Amiens Street 

EPITR: LEAD01 Donegal Airport

I said I wasn't going to cover Aerodrome licences anymore a few years ago, when employment meant that I had a compromised position in relation to nearly all of them in Dublin (in that I worked for their landlord); but I neither still work there, nor ever worked for the owners of Donegal Airport... so I'm covering this one. I'm running dangerously short of content after all.

This is the International airport in Ireland with the lowest passenger numbers, by some margin - 56k in 2025 compared to well over 400k at Kerry - and as such it isn't surprising that there is only a single bar, in the combined landside arrivals and departures area. This bar is also the cafe, and the shop - despite the reintroduction of duty free to the UK in recent years, the three or four flights a week to Glasgow don't justify having an airside shop.

However, as goes small alcohol selections in a mixed premises, there's more here than you might expect; but all in bottles or cans. This includes a large selection from the nearest brewery, Errigal at the Caisléain Óir Hotel in Annagry.

While sitting waiting for your flight to depart, you can also read the airports free magazine, which has more than a slight feeling of the now ended Aer Lingus Cara magazine to it; if Cara had only ever written its tourism articles about Donegal rather than worldwide Aer Lingus destinations that is! 

EPITR: LEP081 Sweeneys Hotel

This hotel was derelict - very, very derelict - before undergoing an extremely lengthy renovation in the early 2020s. 

Documented by an episode of At Your Service which no longer appears to be on RTE Player, from Summer 2022, the hotel eventually opened in July 2024, but I believe some other elements of the redevelopment took longer than this to be finished.

But finished they now are, with everything open. There is a courtyard area with a bar - this wasn't actually open on the Wednesday afternoon I came through, a pizzeria and a bakery; and there's also a small traditional hotel bar to the front of the main hotel building.

This bar is presumably more intended for guests of the hotel, but it is open to the public. That "public" was just me during my time there, but as my pint was poured by a receptionist; it isn't like they are losing money having the bar physically open during the day. 

Dungloe has a lot of bars, including a lot of licenced, closed bars; so it is unlikely that there's much market to be carved out amongst locals here. But I doubt that's the point.

EPITR: 1019263 Crolly Distillery

This is a first for me - not as distillery tour as I've done many of those before; but a Producers Retail (On) Licence. This newest category of liquor licences was introduced in 2018 as an available add-on to a manufacturers licence; alongside an equivalent Producers Retail (Off) Licence for those who wish to sell off-sales only. 

This licence type can be generated from new, not requiring surrender of an existing pub licence; saving the five figure expense of buying one. The Off licence can even be issued by the District Court, reducing legal costs even further, and they are both cheaper to renew than a pub licence. They are, however, vastly more limiting than a pub licence and hence many busier places will use those instead - hence the Dublin distillery and brewery premises I have written about before with full pub licences like Rascals, Teelings and so on.

There are only about 30 of these licences - both types combined - in existence, and only a single one in Dublin which I have yet to visit. Donegal is very heavily represented in them, with both Sliabh Liag sites (the distillery and the bottling plant), Baoilleach Distillery and Kinnegar Brewing also having licences.

The On licence allows for daytime (7pm latest) on-sales of products to those who have undergone a tour of the facility - but this tour can be as basic as you want - a joke at the time of introduction was that a brewery could basically go "there's the fermenters, there's the bar" and have satisfied the requirements.

The Crolly tour is at the other end of the scale though, being quite in-depth; and up close - as the stills were cold, with the days run planned for later, I was brought right up to them; and brought to the - but not across - the threshold of their on site bonded warehouse.

The tour includes a tasting of their new make, unaged spirit; as well as at least one of their released whiskeys (these may still be contract products - "matured and bottled on site" is specified on the retail packaging). I also had a tasting of their soon to be released Oloroso cask product, which was definitely distilled on site. You can upgrade all the way to a €150 tour, but this seemed a bit excessive!

The bar area at the end is quite nice, and large enough to comfortably cater for a bus tour of visitors; but not ridiculous for when there is just one solo tourist like there was for a brief period after my tour.

Revisit writeup because I feel like it: Bar Anam

Well, I had to go back and see what had been done to Underdog, didn't I.

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(I promise the sky is real, Dublin had some really nice late Spring weather)

The kitchen's open, there's some macros on the taps and it's been painted, with new furniture. But some of the regular customers are still around, there's still a range of craft offerings (some slightly less common) on the taps.

Operated by the same people who run Dudleys, another recent re-writeup oddly enough; there are some similarities in the two pubs, but plenty of difference too. Dudleys offers fairly conventional pub grub, but Bar Anam has Dak offering Korean food to the rear of the pub. Dudleys is quite a lot larger, with a bar and lounge split, and the lounge itself having a mezzanine; and this space allows them to have live music.

Dudleys has TVs, and Bar Anam doens't - yet. I happened to be there while one of the owners was present and had a chat about the pub and their plans; and TVs or a protector for occasional use are under consideration. Underdog would also occasionally use one of its menu screen TVs to show free-to-air sports coverage, so this wouldn't be a change from what went before.

It's not the same as it was, but it is already it's own thing. I'll be back - indeed I have already been back between this first visit and the writeup.

June 2026 Revenue register update

This one's late due to me, not Revenue. There's so little to add that I never got around to it!

New: 1023199 Maldron Hotel Croke Park, Clonliffe Road.