Revisit writeup because I feel like it: S1465 Dudleys

This is one of the latest - in terms of how long ago the changeover happened and how long it's been since I visited the new incarnation - of this series so far; but there will likely be some others where I've just not got around to it.

This pub was formerly Bakers, a locals pub that also got a lot of Guinness tourists, and offered food. Bakers announced in 2020 that they would not be reopening after the pandemic, with Dudleys opening in 2021, one of the first "lost pubs" to come back. 

Dudleys is quite similar, except they now offer a substantial number of craft beers as part of the offering. Unlike many pubs with a stronger craft beer offering, the pub has TVs and sports subscriptions, something I need to remember next time I'm looking for somewhere to watch a match.

The curse of going somewhere frequently meaning I can't give much of a writeup strikes again here. Like mentioned on the previous writeup for Swift; I have spent a lot more time in D8 since the closing of Underdog - and with Third Barrel about to take over The Christchurch Inn (former S3103 Beer Market, and a guaranteed recipient of an entry in this series as it really doesn't have a proper page here anyway) down the road; I will very likely continue to, meaning more visits here. 

Every pub in... Sallins

I'm really stretching my "tick off the nearby towns" thing here, but Sallins is on a reasonably frequent bus route, and I had the time to do two towns, so I dropped out. Said bus also goes to Naas, so that may yet turn up here, albeit it has a lot of pubs...

 

Sallins has three pubs, and as far as I can tell has pretty much always had three pubs. I've been passing through the town for years and I don't remember there being any more than that; but I have not done significant research in to this.

 

 

KDP0147 Flanagans Mills / Lock 13 Brewpub is probably the most notable pub in the town, being large and prominent; and I've actually been here before, repeatedly. I did not drop in again on this visit as bus times didn't really allow it, but I'll almost certainly be back anyway.

 

Kildare County Brewing brew on site, and their products are available in some other pubs, and in can in a currently fairly limited range of stockists. During pandemic full closure times, they focused on cans and I bought plenty of online orders from them; but I've also dropped in for food and to buy takeout at other times. Like a lot of more frequent places, the writeup ends up being short!

KD0084 The Railway Inn is a traditional pub, with a traditional name. It was exceptionally busy when I visited, with no space in the bar and limited space in the lounge due to the Leinster match that was on. Despite being this crowded, the bar staff were still providing to-table service for older customers, which I find a nice touch.

The pub cannot have been called the Railway Inn forever, as it claims to have opened in 1837 - with the railway only getting to Sallins in 1846.

KDP0164 JP Healys, which is right beside Lock 13, but is a separate pub, is where I had a pint of Kildare County Electric Juice. Somewhat less crowded - but with all its canal-view outside seating taken in the beaming sunshine, this pub had a slightly younger crowd. 

This pub was formerly the Bridgewater Inn.

Revisited pubs, May 2026

While there were some new visits this month, it was another month of mostly re-visits, as they really now all are.

N0007 Clearys, Amiens Street - bit of an inspection visit to make sure it hasn't been ruined by new ownership. It has not.
N0006 Brew Dock, Amiens Street
S1433 O'Sheas Merchant, Merchants Quay
N0215 Fidelity, Queen Street - this is overdue a rewrite now as the writeup is for Dice Bar still.
N0213 Frank Ryans, Queen Street
1011787 Salmon Leap, Leixlip Co. Dublin
N0084 Black Sheep, Capel Street
N2805 Krewe, Capel Street - the drinks offering here has improved since my last visit
S0077 Nearys, Chatam Street
S0106 Porterhouse, Parliament Street
S3178 Street 66, Parliament Street
N0191 Pantibar
Bar Anam - last visited as N0097 Underdog and will also need a writeup
N0082 McGraths, Drumcondra
N1099 The Sackville - last visited as a very different The Sackville!
N0204 P Duggans - lasted visited as Eamonn Reas, but nothing has really changed
N1620 Boco 

The Comeback of Thatch - 1980/90s neo-rusticism

Dublin has a reasonable number of thatched pubs, for a fairly urban environment. There aren't any in the city centre, but there are plenty in suburbia.

However, they are almost all pastiche in style. The thatch is real - very real, very expensive and requiring very skilled trades to install and maintain it; but the pubs were not thatched originally, and some are or were new buildings.

 

As far as I can tell, the trend for this was started by the only thatched Dublin pub to have since been demolished (yet!), the S0440 Stillorgan Orchard, which was thatched in late 1988.

 

A number of other pubs were thatched over the next few years, as this trend proliferated. S0232 Glenside was thatched during a renovation in the 90s, with N0300 Lord Mayors in Swords being thatched during its extension renovation in 1992 (interestingly, lead by then the Douglas Wallace Opperman architects, the practice of the recently deceased Hugh Wallace). The Lord Mayors is to be demolished, removing another thatched pub from the county.

 

S0398 The Playwright in Blackrock - now a Dunnes Stores with a pub licence - was rebuilt completely in 1994, and thatched at the time. When converted to a Dunnes, the long unmaintained thatch was replaced with slates. 

 

All of these four - and potentially more Dublin pubs - were thatched by Kyran O'Grady, a first generation thatcher - something I believe is quite rare, as it is more often passed down families - who is still working today. 

 

N1128 Courtneys in Lucan is another pub which has a "modern" thatched roof, but I haven't been able to place when this went up, other than that it still had slates in 1970. This may be a 1980s/90s addition, or may be somewhat older.

 

On the slightly older scale, 1002618 Taylors Three Rock is reported as having had its thatched roof "added" in a review in October 1972, which indeed references there being extremely few other thatched pubs around - citing one in Galway as the only other.

 

 I  have severe suspicion about the integrity of S1583 An Poitín Stil in Rathcoole - this advertises itself in 1992 in a manner that makes me suspect it was first thatched then; and I cannot find a reference before them.

Now, not every Dublin thatched pub is a 20th century pastiche,.

S1580 The Rathcoole Inn's thatch, in comparison to basically everything else mentioned here, appears to be genuinely original - the trustworthy Heritage Houses of Ireland Facebook page speculates that it is "'possibly' Ireland's largest surviving historic thatched structure"

DG0478 The Man O War I think is possibly also genuine, has had some issues with its thatch recently - a fire which damaged it, but was not severe enough to force it to close for more than a day.

Revisit writeup because I feel like it: S1470 Swift

This is another pub I've been to a few times recently where the original writeup makes little sense to link to; and deserves a re-write.

Agnes Brownes was a very, very strange pub. Swift isn't. Swift is quite a normal pub for what this bit of D8 has become, with a normal pub interior, a normal pub crowd and normal enough drinks selection - there are a few Irish independent taps amongst the regular macros. They also do toasties.

I've been spending a lot more time amongst the pubs of D8 in recent months; for one main reason - Underdog is gone - and a few other ones. There's a reasonable variety, they're close to the bus route home, and are cheaper by taxi should I decide I don't want to deal with public transport for any reason. So I've been to Swift a few times and will almost certainly be back again.

Interestingly, this isn't the iteration of this pub that actually replaced Agnes Brownes. The extensive renovation happened before the pub opened as The Magnet, which I believe was connected to Luckys and The Circular; but changed to Swift after a relatively short period (and a change of operators).

Revisit writeup because I feel like it: N0020 Juno / Hera

The third in a not-really-a-series of doing a new writuep for somewhere that has both changed drastically since its original writeup, and which I am likely to end up in often enough that it needs to be explained.

Unfortunately, both the previous ones have shut down since I did them; but both were in "cursed premises" of sorts... and this one isn't. So I don't think I'm going to strangle it somehow.

I end up having pre-train drinks in this end of Drumcondra quite a bit, and they nearly always end up being N0082 McGraths. However, this replacement for the Red Parrot has started becoming a bit more common, particularly if I have a longer time to wait, or I'm approaching Drumcondra from the South to begin with. 

Juno offers the now fairly common mix of having quite a few craft taps, but not being a "craft beer bar" - there are macro products aplenty here, albeit those may be slightly selected for the cooler end of the market too. By that I mainly mean Beamish, which is having an odd revival both as a cheap pint in "normal" bars and as something people half my age drink in "cool" bars.

The Juno part of the setup here is the bar of the former Red Parrot; with the larger volume of the premises - the former lounge areas - being the Hera restaurant. I quite enjoyed a meal here, which has full availability of Juno drinks during it.

My Classics knowledge is fairly limited so I had to confirm that yes, Juno and Hera are the equivalent goddesses in Roman and Greek mythology; the Queen of the Gods. 

On the worry about cursing places with these writeups - Juno did in fact "close" briefly already in late 2024, leading to some actually quite nasty gleeful posts on Facebook from people who wanted a more traditional pub there; and some more respectful but still wrong claims about there "not being enough hipsters". 

This closure was for less than two weeks and I believe was solely related to getting Hera ready to open; nothing else. If it turns out doing this revisionary writeups is a curse I'll stop, I promise!

N1617 Gate Theatre

I warned last Summer that there would be quite a lot of theatres coming. This may be the last, for a little bit anyway - I currently have no more tickets booked!

The Gate opened on this site in 1930, but it is located in the 18th century New Assembly Rooms of the Rotunda Hospital (the Assembly Rooms, without the New, is N2205 Ambassador Theatre next door), and as an older theatre, has a more traditional bar, sited to the rear of the building and overlooking the carpark of the Rotunda Hospital. This makes it both older and yet younger than the remaining grand Victorian theatres in Dublin, comparing building fabric and operational history.

In addition to the "proper" bar, there is a smaller bar selling tea (in china cups), wine and soft drinks close to the main entrance of the auditorium. They also allow drinks in to the auditorium, the first Dublin theatre I have actually experienced that in, with an usher providing plastic glassware to decant at the entries to the auditorium. 

I don't review any of the plays I go to see on these ticks, but this one was quite good. And is still running for a bit by the time this writeup gets published, but based on the show seeming to be a total sellout the night I saw it, it may be sold out!