Continuing the trend of recent years, this was a long-closed pub which has reopened in the past few weeks. I had seen people working inside and tap heads illuminated when passing a few months ago, but it took a bit longer to come together fully. The interior looks like it is probably fairly original but everything is clean and refreshed.
A fairly normal, small-ish traditional Dublin pub, on the day of my visit it was busy with tourists staying in the nearby student accommodation for DIT which is rented out during the summer. It is likely to become a popular stop for visitors to the soon-to-open 14 Henrietta Street tenement museum which is just up the road.
There's a relatively limited range of drink options, but it was nice to see the proximity to the brewery being advertised by a handwritten sign on the Porterhouse Red tap. Comparatively cheap US sized pints of Sierra Nevada IPA was what I went for
Monday 23 July 2018
Sunday 8 July 2018
Closings and (re-)openings January-June 2018
Its time for another bi-annual summary of what pub opening and closings I've noticed in Dublin since the last update in December.
New
Firstly, lets deal with the substantial number of net new licences.
Press Up Group's 1013644 Stella Cinema in Rathmines had re-opened prior to the last update, but its licence number was at that stage un-known. Another addition to their chain now has that status of being open but not yet on the lists - the Lucky Duck on Aungier Street. This had been a pub before but closed over 20 years ago, and was restored from near total dereliction.
In another case of restoration, but this time not a former pub, 1014208 Clontarf Baths has opened as a restaurant with pub licence. The baths were meant to open at the same time, but this almost immediately caused concern relating to planning permission that has still not quite gone away - coverage in recent weeks has been in the Sunday Business Post which is not linkable online.
1013769 9 Below was probably open at the time of the last update, but hadn't hit the licence register and had missed my attention. In the basement of the Hibernian Club, drink has been available on this site for years - but previously only to members of the club. Now anyone with a massively big wallet can do so, which probably hasn't changed the clientele much!
1014216 Iveagh Garden Hotel is a substantial new hotel replacing older offices on Harcourt Street, and 1014271 Dunne and Crescenzi is a long-standing South Frederick Street restuarant presumably branching out in to serving non-eating patrons. This trend was identified in the Morrisseys (now Lisney) annual report as a specific growth sector in the pub trade for Dublin.
And finally, 1013760 Savoy Cinema has re-added a licence after a very prolonged period of not actively holding one. The Savoy receiving its alcohol licence originally in the 1960s was a cause of concern for nearby publicans, but no such reports have appeared this time!
Reopenings
While a smaller number than last time, there were still a fair few closed pubs re-opening.
1013727 Wasabi Bar & Grill has opened in the former WJ Kavanagh premises on Dorset Street, changing from a craft bar to a Brazilian BBQ theme (despite the name implying Japanese food - the same operators have a sushi place down the road).
A few longer closed premises have also reappeared. 1013579 Luckys has opened in what was Bohan's on Meath Street; 1011790 Fourth Corner in the former Nash's on New Street; and N0057 The Kings Inn Bolton Street has reopened in the past few days.
The physical number of closed pubs that are capable of reopening has dwindled so significantly now that this number is likely to stay small for the next while.
Closures
Very few premises have closed since the last report and probably only N0096 Hill Street Sports Bar (formerly Stoneys) has any risk of staying closed for a prolonged period.
N0097 Beer House on Capel Street/Bolton Street has also closed but has already been snapped up to become the next branch of Galway Bay Brewery and is recruiting staff currently. S4583 Residence and S3503 Cafe en Seine are both closed for extensive refits but will reopen.
S1709 The Belgard Inn has closed for demolition and replacement by a Lidl, there were plans for a replacement pub but these are uncertain. S0149 Howl At The Moon has also closed for redevelopment but there should be a replacement pub on-site.
New
Firstly, lets deal with the substantial number of net new licences.
Press Up Group's 1013644 Stella Cinema in Rathmines had re-opened prior to the last update, but its licence number was at that stage un-known. Another addition to their chain now has that status of being open but not yet on the lists - the Lucky Duck on Aungier Street. This had been a pub before but closed over 20 years ago, and was restored from near total dereliction.
In another case of restoration, but this time not a former pub, 1014208 Clontarf Baths has opened as a restaurant with pub licence. The baths were meant to open at the same time, but this almost immediately caused concern relating to planning permission that has still not quite gone away - coverage in recent weeks has been in the Sunday Business Post which is not linkable online.
1013769 9 Below was probably open at the time of the last update, but hadn't hit the licence register and had missed my attention. In the basement of the Hibernian Club, drink has been available on this site for years - but previously only to members of the club. Now anyone with a massively big wallet can do so, which probably hasn't changed the clientele much!
1014216 Iveagh Garden Hotel is a substantial new hotel replacing older offices on Harcourt Street, and 1014271 Dunne and Crescenzi is a long-standing South Frederick Street restuarant presumably branching out in to serving non-eating patrons. This trend was identified in the Morrisseys (now Lisney) annual report as a specific growth sector in the pub trade for Dublin.
And finally, 1013760 Savoy Cinema has re-added a licence after a very prolonged period of not actively holding one. The Savoy receiving its alcohol licence originally in the 1960s was a cause of concern for nearby publicans, but no such reports have appeared this time!
Reopenings
While a smaller number than last time, there were still a fair few closed pubs re-opening.
1013727 Wasabi Bar & Grill has opened in the former WJ Kavanagh premises on Dorset Street, changing from a craft bar to a Brazilian BBQ theme (despite the name implying Japanese food - the same operators have a sushi place down the road).
A few longer closed premises have also reappeared. 1013579 Luckys has opened in what was Bohan's on Meath Street; 1011790 Fourth Corner in the former Nash's on New Street; and N0057 The Kings Inn Bolton Street has reopened in the past few days.
The physical number of closed pubs that are capable of reopening has dwindled so significantly now that this number is likely to stay small for the next while.
Closures
Very few premises have closed since the last report and probably only N0096 Hill Street Sports Bar (formerly Stoneys) has any risk of staying closed for a prolonged period.
N0097 Beer House on Capel Street/Bolton Street has also closed but has already been snapped up to become the next branch of Galway Bay Brewery and is recruiting staff currently. S4583 Residence and S3503 Cafe en Seine are both closed for extensive refits but will reopen.
S1709 The Belgard Inn has closed for demolition and replacement by a Lidl, there were plans for a replacement pub but these are uncertain. S0149 Howl At The Moon has also closed for redevelopment but there should be a replacement pub on-site.
Wednesday 4 July 2018
July 2018 licence update
The July licence update has landed quite early, and isn't particularly large
New
1014216 Iveagh Garden Hotel, Harcourt Street
1014271 Dunne and Crescenzi, South Frederick Street - long established restaurant adds a full bar licence.
Gone
N2260 The Vaults, Amiens Street. This could be temporary but the premises has been closed for years.
Reappeared
S1491 Murrays, Kilmainham after a prolonged absence. I believe it is still closed.
Sunday 1 July 2018
S0116 Ha'penny Bridge Inn
A tourist trap of sorts, this small enough city centre bar does have comedy nights which aren't really the usual thing to try get tourists through the door (trad, trad and more trad being the usual option for nearby pubs)
The pub is named after the unofficial but always used name of the adjacent bridge, referring to the former toll levied on it. The toll was got rid of in 1919. The pub use an image of an Irish halfpenny, first issued in 1928, as their logo, something nobody was ever able to pay for the toll - but I imagine that they didn't want to use the sterling coin from the time with a large image of Britannia!
The pub is named after the unofficial but always used name of the adjacent bridge, referring to the former toll levied on it. The toll was got rid of in 1919. The pub use an image of an Irish halfpenny, first issued in 1928, as their logo, something nobody was ever able to pay for the toll - but I imagine that they didn't want to use the sterling coin from the time with a large image of Britannia!
S1472 Pifko
One of Dublin's two Czech bars, this is a large enough pub with an attached off-licence. It was at one time entirely an off-licence (A Booze2Go, of which I will write about at some stage) but there has been a pub on the site for a very long time. The building currently there is quite new, but the empty site with licence attached was advertised for sale in 1992 after demolition, road widening and site consolidation. There are images of the old pub available in various online archives.
Like many city centre bars, there is an extensive food menu. Unlike many city centre bars, it is quite odd to the Irish pub grub purchasers palate - cabbage soup, lots of pork dishes and so on. Kitchen was closed when I was there, so no chance to try and a DiFontaines slice had to suffice later instead.
Like many city centre bars, there is an extensive food menu. Unlike many city centre bars, it is quite odd to the Irish pub grub purchasers palate - cabbage soup, lots of pork dishes and so on. Kitchen was closed when I was there, so no chance to try and a DiFontaines slice had to suffice later instead.
S0180 Slatterys
This is an absolutely huge premises, which I didn't realise at the time - I went no further than the main bar and took my pint out to the outdoor area at the front due to the oppressive heat even at 10pm. You can actually tour the pub internally on Google Streetview, possible due to it being so close to Google's European HQ.
One of the regular pre/post match or concert pubs for the Aviva as well as the Docklands business and new housing trade, this pub has always been busy any time I have passed. The front bar - which I thought was the entirety of it - retains a traditional feel even if the rest of the pub is quite modern.
One of the regular pre/post match or concert pubs for the Aviva as well as the Docklands business and new housing trade, this pub has always been busy any time I have passed. The front bar - which I thought was the entirety of it - retains a traditional feel even if the rest of the pub is quite modern.
S0179 Grand Canal Hotel / Gasworks
This is one of the two hotels where the bar operation is franchised out to the Galway Bay Brewery - Alfie Byrne's in the Conrad (visited before the blog) is the other. Like any GBB bar outside the city centre, there is a tiny concession to the differing audience - there are Guinness taps.
I think it is probably the largest GBB bar, with multiple different areas in the room. Due to being near to the Aviva Stadium, and on the main route from it to/from the city, it has specific kit-out to deal with large crowds including a second bar (with only Guinness and Althea session IPA taps on it).
Beyond the large size, there are other signs of it being a hotel bar - awkwardly located toilets (downstairs, off in a corner, and with limited signage to tell you which way back to the bar) due to being shared with other functions of the hotel; and multiple TVs. However, it is a vast improvement over the previous bar here - the originator of the Kitty O'Sheas franchise brand of identikit "Irish Bars" across the globe.
I think it is probably the largest GBB bar, with multiple different areas in the room. Due to being near to the Aviva Stadium, and on the main route from it to/from the city, it has specific kit-out to deal with large crowds including a second bar (with only Guinness and Althea session IPA taps on it).
Beyond the large size, there are other signs of it being a hotel bar - awkwardly located toilets (downstairs, off in a corner, and with limited signage to tell you which way back to the bar) due to being shared with other functions of the hotel; and multiple TVs. However, it is a vast improvement over the previous bar here - the originator of the Kitty O'Sheas franchise brand of identikit "Irish Bars" across the globe.
S0144 Becky Morgans
A traditional pub in an area that has lost much of its old population base to redevelopment but now has daytime and evening business from tech and finance firms (S0153 The Ferryman nearby been similarly affected). It has managed to keep its charm and feel, however.
During the day on weekdays, you may see the occasional couple in wedding attire pop in for a 'first married pint' due to being the closest pub to the registry office in Patrick Duns
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