Revisted Pubs, October 2026

Some relatively long ago revisits this month, over a decade in a few cases.

S3965 Cassidys
S0065 Bill Ahernes - last visited as Fitzgeralds
S0106 Porterhouse
S0082 Brogans - the revisit caught that I'd never written this one up somehow
S3718 Peadar Kearneys
1008947 Wiley Fox
N1083 Briodys
N0099 Big Romance
S3103 The Christchurch
S3178 Street 66
S3467 Vicar Street
S3055 Buskers
S1438 Board - last visited as MVP
N1102 The Celt
S0015 The Ginger Man
N0106 MeMas - last visited as The Metro
N1556 Murrays
N1064 The Oval
1001292 Olympia Theatre

S3891 National Concert Hall

Finally, a "last of the last" post - this is the last premises with a National Cultural Institutions Licence for me to visit.

While this would only have been licenced in the 2000s (based on its licence number, and the post-1997 possibility of getting such a type of licence; this has been a concert hall since 1981; and was a music venue in the 1870s prior to becoming the original home of UCD.

A redevelopment project has begun, converting some of the areas of the building which UCD remained in for longer in to more recital spaces and other uses; but there is a full renovation of other areas planned which will lead to a multi year closure. Or at least that's my knowledge of what's planned; the NCH website is not currently loading for me so I can't check the full details!

I thought this would come sooner and had basically stopped paying attention to what was going on here; intending to visit when it reopened... but it hasn't actually closed yet. So to inch further towards completion, I had to find something to go to here.

This years Haunted Dancehall provided something interesting enough, and not too wallet shattering. This also has the advantage of multiple rooms and hence three bars - I suspect all three bars - open to the guests.

There's a small range of draught beer, a few more bottles and also a select few Irish independent cans available at these bars - Kinnegar Big Bunny and Trouble Ambush.

If someone else is doing a tick off list and gets wine with lunch in the cafe here, I'm pretty certain that is on the main licence too, so would count. I certainly haven't found another licence for it.

RetroReview: S0082 Brogans

Another missed writeup, and one I'd never have caught if I didn't do my monthly revisit writeups. This is just getting in under the wire in time to be linked in this months one!

I think I know how this happened - I didn't catch that I'd been here before 2016 when I did my initial list of pubs I'd been to; then realised that I had at a later point, marked it off my list and maps but never updated the list on here. I used *that* list to do the RetroReview series.

I'd actually been here quite a lot, as it was the place I went before any gigs in the Olympia - at least until Galway Bay opened down the road; and it was the original location for Underdog; which I visited in all three locations (the last one quite regularly). Indeed, the writeup for what is now Thomas Reads mentions me decamping to Underdog in this premises.

Upstairs you get a fairly normal city centre bar, and downstairs you have the remains of Underdog; opened only at weekends by Brogans but still having a few craft options. It was oddly quiet the night I most recently dropped in - a Thursday, admittedly - so this may be a good choice if other pubs nearby are busy.

1009866 National Stadium

This was the last premises on the second-last of the very odd category licences for me to tick off - a National Sporting Arena Licence - and took some time to figure out when to do it. 

The name here is a bit opaque to those who are not aware of the venue - it is the National Stadium for the Irish Amateur Boxing Association, and is the only non field sports venue with a Sporting Arena licence in Ireland as it stands.

For some reason, various gigs and cultural events on here that would have matched my interests were always on when I was out of the country. Never just otherwise occupied at home or anything else - always consistently when I was away.

Eventually, something I knew I could at least tolerate (Tomora supported by Oxis - both good performances) popped up, so I got here.

The venue is a modernised 1930s boxing stadium, but has held non-boxing events since the start; such as circuses and exhibitions in the early days. Concerts have been happening here since at least the 1950s, with acts as big and varied as Louis Armstrong, Fleetwood Mac and Leonard Cohen performing over the years.

While it is well maintained and well staffed; it needs some more internal signage as to the layout of the seating blocks - and where the bar is. Locating this required finding someone with a drink and asking them where they got it - something I was then asked a number of times as more people arrived!

There's a long wooden bar in a room that feels like a school sports hall, and an entirely can/bottle bar. They sell quite a mix of macro products at surprisingly reasonable prices, but the bar is a bit of a  throwback; with neon signs for "Cold Budweiser" amongst others barely hidden behind a black cloth, presumably as they don't sell Budweiser.  

There's a very solid sound system here, but the 11pm curfew means that it is not particularly useful for dance music nights; which would otherwise thrive here. The location works against it as being a reliever venue for gigs just too big for the Olympia or Vicar Street too

RetroReview: S3425 Irish Museum of Modern Art

You thought I was done with this series... and so did I. Or possibly only I did; I don't think that many people keep that close track.

However, when preparing a post for an upcoming visit, I noticed that I couldn't find this entry anywhere. And I have been here, a few times at that.

This premises has a National Cultural Institutions Licence rather than a conventional pub licence. I've covered a number of the premises with these before; but not gone in to what the licence actually is. 

Effectively, it is a pub-type on-licence granted on request (and with Ministerial approval) to a limited list of institutions, specified in 1997 legislation. It does not require a licence to be cancelled, and does not have limitations on type of customer; but also is not a conventional pub licence either - with no ability to transfer the licence out to another premises.

A bare majority of the specified institutions in Dublin have, or have had licences (S3660 Chester Beatty Library, 1022852 National Gallery, here; and formerly the National Library). The others that have not, yet at least are the Hugh Lane, the National Museum at either location, and the Royal Irish Academy.

In the case of IMMA, the licence is used for a limited range of drinks in the cafe; but also presumably for the large concerts which take place in the grounds - as the licence type would appear to cover this. I have been at a few of these over the years.

A Substantial Portion Of The Pubs In Athlone

Over the past few years, I've had reason to spend a few nights/weekends in Athlone. And during that time I've visited a fair few of its pubs.

But nowhere near "every" and not even the "most of" I've done in another part (Tullamore) of the tripartite Midlands Gateway 'city' that we were promised in the 2000s

Athlone is bigger than Tullamore, and has a university campus, an army barracks, plus more and bigger hotels; so an increase in total licences would be expected. On top of that, Athlone effectively has "suburbs" of its own, which have their own pubs, all within the built up area of the town.

As far as I can tell, there are five hotels, a theatre, a bowling alley with a pub licence, and *THIRTY FIVE* pubs licenced in the Westmeath side of Athlone. Some of these are not trading, and may not have for a very long time (one is an empty shell of walls, but still licenced); but most are open.

There is also the Roscommon "suburbs" of Athlone, contiguous to the town but over the county line. I've visited none of these, but this adds, thankfully, only one pub (The Mill) and one hotel (Athlone Springs) to the number. 

If you add in non contiguous but close villages, the total starts to clatter towards 50, so we shall not be doing that.

So, here's where I've been, sorted by licence number, as doing this chronologically would be complicated:

ATP011 Mary Mc's

I visited this when it was the Brazen Monkey, which was fine, and notably very cheap. I haven't been back since it's very quick rebrand in Summer 2026.

ATP012 Gertie Browns

A rambling pub (go on a quest to find the hidden smoking area, or even the gents for that matter) of many rooms and even two shopfronts - the Cellar Bistro around the corner being the same premises. 

Claims to be a thousand years old, but like the more well known ancient pub claim (see below), this is of exceptionally questionable veracity.

ATP021 O'Briens

Small and eccentrically decorated, with charity shop records on the walls; andsawdust on the floor of the "country parlour" style rear bar (a range, loose tables and rustic greebling, other than the wall mounted motorbike). 

Said motorbike has a sign with something along the lines of "O'Briens Bar 1968", which I believe is more likely to be the age of the owner than the age of the pub; as this is only open a few months as O'Briens.  

Rental ads from early 2026 showing as the Mardyke Bar (with more mainstream decor), and prior to that it was Cartys.

ATP022 Careys

Small-ish bar, but with a suntrap outdoor area on the street. Also has a snug, not something you see that often outside Dublin these days

ATP026 Peddlar Macs

A large pub with lots of areas, which I initially felt was faux-old in design. However, an early licence number means it may not be quite so fake - but this is a fairly recent name, and the premises was previously marketed as a nightclub - so I'm probably on track with thinking its pastiche. Or the interior was once in another premises!

Showing GAA club football on the TVs when I went in, which is something I have very rarely seen before. 

ATP041 Connaught Lounge

The absolute gem of the lot here, this pub has been run by Willie McGrath since 1971; and has not particularly changed since then. Opens late in the evening (8/8:30), is cash only and has a limited range of drinks.

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ATP045 Walsh's

The rare in big towns thing of a bar-and-shop - there's only two in County Dublin - pops up here. What we get here is a modern Centra, and a rambling bar and lounge with a snug and piano.

Sensible rules in Walshs in Athlone

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— Cian Duffy (@everypubindublin.ie) October 18, 2026 at 12:00 AM

ATP047 McNeills

Large but fundamentally single room pub, a common format in the town. Oddly laid out, with a pool table inside the front door and the bar to the back. Still displaying 125th birthday signage from May this year, this is a pub that could/should have appeared on the VFI 100-year-in-the-family pubs list from 2002 that I recently wrote about, being 101 years in the family at that time.

Like their neighbour across the road having a "country pub" thing of a pub and shop; McNeills have a pub and funeral directors. We are very much in the built up area of the town here, but have two of the most common rural pub combos.

ATP055 Castle Inn

A large but traditional pub, a good escape from the tourists that may be mobbing its nearest neighbour.

ATP056 Seans Bar

Don't bother, unless it's quiet. It isn't worth being around that number of tourists being confused about how old stuff is.

Is it old? Yes, even by Irish standards. Is it the oldest pub in Ireland / the world as is claimed? Probably not. Is it as old as it claims? Probably not.

ATP064 Biddy O'Dowds

Another big-yet-one-room pub, which somehow reminds me of pubs in Donegal a lot. Decent enough.

ATP065 Nuts Corner

The name here is a little apt, but this was fairly fun when I dropped in for a pint.

ATP252 Val Beaumonts

As close in style as it is physically to the Connaught Lounge - they are a few doors apart - this is another gem of a traditional pub, but a bit more modern. There's a jukebox,  a card machine, and the toilets are more 1970s Spanish hotel than 1940s primary school.

And there's a cat.

Still Athlone. Next pub has a seat blocker.

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— Cian Duffy (@everypubindublin.ie) October 17, 2026 at 10:47 PM

ATP304 Dead Centre Brewing

Every visit has also involved going here, Athlone's own brewpub. There's a core range of their own beers here, supplemented by a few guest draught and a lot of bottle/can beers; and decent food. The outdoor area is a deck overhanging the Shannon, and is a glorious place to be in good weather, which I've had on every visit somehow, even in October!

ATP305 The Dark Horse

Modern - well, 2000s - style bar. Advertises craft beer, sells two. Still, a comfortable enough modern bar with food and pool tables which seems to be popular with families and younger (20s) drinkers.

ATP310 Shamrock Lodge Hotel

Older hotel - a 1950s build on to an 1814 country house - but extended repeatedy with fairly modern rooms, and known for it's carvery. A lot of family events have been held here over the years, and I've stayed here at times.

ATP313 Sheraton Hotel

This is my regular place to stay, as it's central, and has free underground parking. The bar is... fine for a hotel bar. There's not really much reason to use the bar here when you have all the other pubs to chose from, such as Careys practically next door.

Sort-of analysis

Licence number nerds may notice gaps in the lower numbers here, which suggests that there may previously have been a lot more than the ~35 pubs that are currently licenced. Licences were numbered by area, when numbering was introduced; and while ATP001 and some other very low numbers are in Abbeyshrule; Athlone itself seems to have started at ATP008 and runs to ATP073; but may have had a few more on each end depending on whether they vanished before my archive (16 years currently).

This would suggest that the town probably had 65+ licenced premises in the not too distant past; more than half of which are gone due to how many of the remaining licences are new builds.

Also, oddly, not a single premises I visited has a post-2008 series licence number, but this is just because I didn't get everywhere - some exist. 

2025>2026 year-on-year Revenue register comparison

The licencing year for pubs (and all liquor licences) runs from October to September, not January to December, for reasons I do not know and have never looked up. But considering the financial year used to start in April, and annual leave years still legally do; it may just be some legacy oddity we are left with

Anyway, this means that the October published register - which is to end of September - is the one to use to get the closest to reality list of liquor licences. If you pull the November list, you will be missing hundreds of premises - and I have seen some bonkers claimed numbers of pubs in Dublin or Ireland that are clearly based on early year lists. And most years, I remember to publish a year-on-year comparison of pure numbers, and also use this to prune closed premises from both my personal list, and my public maps.

It should be noted that some premises may be trading and not listed due to admin errors, or long-running deferrals of renewals; but they will rarely (I can name exceptions of close to a decade...) be missing for more than a year. 

2025's October Revenue list had 978 premises in County Dublin, and 2026's has 981. I have often forgotten to put this number in the year-on-year post, but checking old posts shows 953 in 2022 and 969 in 2023; so the trend of a slight increase in total licenced premises continues. However, it must be noted that most new openings in this time period are hotels; so really the number of conventional pubs continues to creep downwards

Premises which did not renew since the 2024/5 licencing year, and which are not trading, and as such will be removed from my personal list and marked as red on the map, are:

1001203 - Fern & Co, Stepaside - closed for some years
1003994 - TGI Fridays, Fleet Street - closed and due to be changed to a Popeyes Chicken, without a bar. I had visited this premises.
1014208 - The Baths, Clontarf - closed for some years
DG0490 - Caffe Italiano, Skerries - closed and being converted to housing
N0002 - Madigans, Connolly Station - closed, allegedly becoming a Taco Bell. I had visited this premises
N0138 - The Hollybrook, Clontarf - closed and being converted to housing
N2081 - Ripley Court Hotel, Talbot Street - bar being converted to more rooms
N2123 - The Living Room, Cathal Brugha Street - being converted in to the bar of the Holiday Inn Express which already has its own licence. I had visited both of these premises.
S3276 - Red Cow Hotel, Clondalkin - hotel not open to the public in recent years.
S3504 - Tramco, Rathmines - not traded for years, comes and goes off the register as plans progress to rebuild and reopen as a hotel
S4253 - Flying Duck, Dundrum - closed. I have visited this premises.

Additionally, a cross-check against my own list for licences I had left standing there has found one other to be trimmed:

S4187 Ukiyo, Exchequer Street - had left this here despite non-renewal as I assumed Madame Pho would use the licence. Madame Pho does not appear to sell alcohol, and certainly cannot claim to be a theatre as Ukiyo was licenced (due to its karaoke pods). I have visited this premises. 

 

This leaves me at 944/999 on my register; with 34 marked as some form of impossible - nearly all that the premises is not actually open at all, or trades in a completely atypical manner.