Tuesday, 12 July 2016

S0065 Fitzgeralds

(These posts have been split and revised from a previous long-format account)

Pub #7 of the day - I don't think I'll be doing this number again - was Fitzgeralds as it was just around the corner from the bus and it was still raining. Despite being so close to the bus stop I've used for a decade or so - since the original set of Luas works diverted the 66/67 - I'd actually never been in here before. Relatively traditional city centre pub, which was quite busy for a late Sunday evening due to the football.

S0097 Karma Stone

(These posts have been split and revised from a previous long-format account)

This was pub #6 of the day, mainly as somewhere dry and with seats rather than for any other reasons. We watched the first half of the Euro 2016 final here before heading for a bus.

This pub was the scene of a gangland shooting in the past, which I'd forgotten about before entering.

1007737 Peters Pub

(These posts have been split and revised from a previous long-format account)

Onwards to pub #5 (at this point, I feel I must point out that is was a large number of hours since pub #1 - this wasn't a pub crawl of any speed) which was the much brighter - and dearer - 1007737 Peters Pub on Johnson Place.

The old-fashioned interior, with low tables and lower stools reminds me vaguely of pubs in rural Donegal; except for the pints approaching €7 rather than €3!

We then retired to Las Tapas de Lola on Wexford Street, which isn't a pub, but is worth mentioning for the quality and variety of the food; and some very unusual options on the drinks menu.

S2860 Harrys On The Green

(These posts have been split and revised from a previous long-format account)

A short walk down the street later and I was in the other bar in the basement of the shopping centre - S2860 Harrys On The Green. This proved to be much quieter and despite being a little dark, let me continue my paper reading in peace until I was rejoined. There's a cocktail bar off to the side of the main bar, but I stuck with the slower drinks, so this is somewhere else that may be revisited in the future.

S2793 Sinnotts

(These posts have been split and revised from a previous long-format account)

Pub #3 of the day was S2793 Sinnotts - under the Stephens Green Centre where I didn't remain for particularly long. This was the only pub which was very busy during the daytime - with the F1, Wimbeldon final and GAA Championship all on various TV screens - and wasn't very conducive to sitting around reading the papers solo - firstly as there were no seats available. May be worthy of a re-visit at another time.

S0077 Nearys

(These posts have been split and revised from a previous long-format account)

The second stop of the day was S0077 Nearys on Chatham Street, where the quiet Victorian setup - gents toilet off the bar, ladies off the lounge! - proved perfect for me to get through reading more of the papers, but quiet enough that Himself abandoned me to go wandering around the shops instead. Once I'd finished flicking through the main sections, I decided to go somewhere else to read the supplements and moved on.

S0080 Bar Rua

(These posts have been split and revised from a previous long-format account)

Starting out a days drinking with a leisurely brunch, we visited the recently opened S0080 Bar Rua on Clarendon Street. This replaced the Clarendon Inn which had been closed for some time. Operated by Carrig Brewing from Leitrim it has a wide selection of Irish and international craft beers - and both Heineken and Guinness for those who prefer those options. Food was good but there were other pubs to see, so we moved on after eating.

Friday, 8 July 2016

A Reopening

Before I even get to start knocking some off the list, one I had as closed temporarily has already reopened.

The Sunset House on Summerhill Parade (N0049) was the scene of a gangland shooting in April and has been closed since, but is now reopening as The Brendan Behan. It will be run by the operators of Neds on Townsend Street (can't find its licence number currently)

Its also relatively convenient to my work currently, so it might be visited fairly soon.

Saturday, 2 July 2016

Pubs visited prior to blog

These are the premises I visited prior to starting this blog in August 2016. The oldest visits here will have been sneaky underage pints in 2003/4; although I've re-visited plenty of these since 2016 also.

I have begun writing them up, to varying levels of detail as my RetroReview series - those I visit more often frequently get a shorter post as I usually write about a specific visit.

1001897 Bunker, Point Square (since closed)
1008359 Weston Aerodrome, Lucan
1008963 Porterhouse, Nassau Street
1009202 Hangar / Andrews Lane Theatre, Andrews Lane - closed since
N1958 Becketts Hotel, Leixlip, (Dublin side of river, since closed)
S0009 Doyles, College Street
S0015 The Ginger Man, Fenian Street
S0018 Bowes, Fleet Street
S0031 O'Neills, Pearse Street
S0090 Hogans, Georges Street
S0092 The George, South Great Georges Street
S0094 Bruxelles, Harry Street
S0106 Porterhouse, Parliament Street
S0107 Lundy Foots / Czech Inn, Essex Gate
S0112 O'Neills, Suffolk Street
S0115 Bankers, Trinity Street
S0119 Teach Tábhairne, Wexford Street (when it was Against the Grain)
S0127 The Swan, Aungier Street
S0140 Clarence Hotel, Wellington Quay
S0149 Leinster Hotel, Mount Street (when it was Howl At The Moon)
S0163 Paddy Cullens, Ballsbridge
S0164 Horse Show House, Ballsbridge
S0200 Ryans, Camden Street
S0201 Bleeding Horse, Nassau Street
S0208 Bernard Shaw, Richmond Street (since closed)
S0237 Kodiak, Rathmines (when it was Copan)
S0253 The Goat, Goatstown
S0304 McCormacks, Dun Laoghaire
S0320 Fitzpatrick Castle Hotel, Killiney
S0323 Stillorgan Park Hotel, Stillorgan
S0366 Johnny Foxes, Glencullen
S0775 Ballsbridge Hotel, Pembroke Road (since closed)
S0967 The River Bar, Burgh Quay
S1308 Kellys Hotel / Bar With No Name, Fade Street
S1510 Patriots Inn, South Circular Road
S2747 Conrad Hotel, Earlsfort Terrace (when the bar was Alfie Byrnes)
S2949 The Old Storehouse, Crown Alley (when it was Eamon Dorans)
S2957 Tivoli Theatre, Francis Street (since closed)
S3032 Tripod, Harcourt Street (since closed)
S3035 Irish Film Institute, Eustace Street
S3037 Dylan Hotel, Eastmoreland Lane
S3053 Cafe En Seine, Dawson Street
S3055 Fleet Street Inn / Buskers, Fleet Street
S3099 Central Hotel, Exchequer Street (currently closed)
S3178 Front Lounge / Street 66, Parliament Street
S3214 Shelbourne Park Greyhound Stadium, South Lotts Road
S3221 Drury Court Hotel / Caribou, Drury Street (when it was PMacs)

Statement of Intent

I've decided to try and 'drink' (see rules) in every pub in County Dublin. I can't find anyone who's done it, yet, but search results suggest a Japanese guy is a few hundred ahead of me already - but he's working off a printed book as his source.

Rules I've set for trying:

I am going to use the Revenue list of licence holders as my source list for pubs. This does not always contain the full list of licences - somehow, as you'd expect Revenue to have a handle on this - so I'll check back often.

Off-licences, wholesalers (neither of which would be too happy with drinking on-site) restaurant and "wine on-licence" licences are excluded - these aren't pubs. Aerodrome and other special licences are included - except if there's good reason to exclude them. Passenger vehicle licences are only included if they spend most to all their time in Dublin - considering the Rosslare-Cherbourg ferry is registered in Dublin this is required.

This leaves me with (current) 945 pubs or other drinking venues to cover. Doable, I think.
 
I'm not intending to (necessarily) drink alcohol in every pub, as there are certain ones where this would become impractical to tick them off the list. However I do intend to buy a drink of some description and consume it.

Premises which have two licences (e.g. a pub and a theatre, or a horse track and pub licence) count as one.

Pubs which reopen on the site of a recently closed one will be judged (by me) to be the same pub for the purposes of completion. Similarly if I've drunk somewhere that has reopened under a new name, I'm not going back - unless I want to.

I will state shortly every pub from the list which I have already drunk in. There won't be much documentary evidence for this, but if you're willing to accept that from the other ~800 I'm sure you'll be OK for these.