This is another of the Dublin pubs which shares its name with the adjacent junction, although in this case I'm not 100% certain that the pub was named that first.
This is a fairly traditional suburban pub, but had one feature I have never seen in Dublin before - a standalone bookie plying his trade with a laptop and cashbox in the corner.
This isn't the most uncommon thing to see in rural areas - indeed, "lotto agents" were common in areas without shops that could justify a leased line for the original lotto terminals - but the general density of bookies shops in Dublin usually means that their presence in pubs is limited to pens and slips. However, there doesn't actually seem to be any of the main brands nearby, with an independent in Harolds Cross the nearest I could find on Google. Obviously there has to be demand for his services.
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Tuesday, 23 October 2018
S1434 57 The Headline
This relatively large suburban craft beer bar was formerly Thomas Keogh's - as the now covered by a neighbouring building ghost sign showed until quite recently - but as traded as a variant of The Headline for quite some time. A recent-ish addition is a specialty gin bar in the basement, which I thought was actually called Thomas Keogh's on the menus, but doesn't have that name on the website at least.
There's an extensive food menu here, but I was hoping on getting a cancellation in either Bastible or the Clanbrassil House so I didn't try anything. I didn't get a seat in either and ended up in Pinheads Pizza instead, which was probably equal or superior in terms of cost to quality anyway!
There's an extensive food menu here, but I was hoping on getting a cancellation in either Bastible or the Clanbrassil House so I didn't try anything. I didn't get a seat in either and ended up in Pinheads Pizza instead, which was probably equal or superior in terms of cost to quality anyway!
Friday, 12 October 2018
1011790 The Fourth Corner
Recently reopened, as Nash's this bar was a fake-traditional boozer on the ground floor of a small apartment block and the last pub standing of the Four Corners of Hell (another link to Come Here To Me, essential reading for anyone interested in Dublin social history of any kind). [A second Four Corners of Hell on the Northside was referenced in newspapers and will be the subject of a future post, but is not really relevant here]
After some years of closure and a sale of the building, The Fourth Corner mixes some traditional elements that should bring in a local audience with modern twists. A set of cocktails named after the best known names for the four pubs of the Corners along with an order to table option for the Dublin Pizza Company are the most obvious modern factors.
This area of the city has been denuded of pubs since the 1960s and any reopenings need to be welcomed. Only 1008283 Fallons remains otherwise of the substantial number of pubs on Patrick Street and New Street; and Bride Street nearby has also been wiped clean. A decent reopening with a good nod to the past and an eye to the future is something I'd hope will survive here.
After some years of closure and a sale of the building, The Fourth Corner mixes some traditional elements that should bring in a local audience with modern twists. A set of cocktails named after the best known names for the four pubs of the Corners along with an order to table option for the Dublin Pizza Company are the most obvious modern factors.
This area of the city has been denuded of pubs since the 1960s and any reopenings need to be welcomed. Only 1008283 Fallons remains otherwise of the substantial number of pubs on Patrick Street and New Street; and Bride Street nearby has also been wiped clean. A decent reopening with a good nod to the past and an eye to the future is something I'd hope will survive here.
S0117 The Lord Edward
Getting in to this pub involved some slight confusion over the door. It's tiny. The pub itself is quite small, although checking its website (as I normally do when writing the post on a pub) shows that I missed "one of the best-kept secrets" in the upstairs lounge.
A small enough pub of long standing in one of the few original buildings in its surroundings, the pub was probably less well known than the seafood restaurant on the second floor, which closed a few years back. The entire area around the pub has been heavily redeveloped, and the photo on the Come Here To Me article about it shows it standing alone in 1979.
Once I found my way inside, it was surprisingly easy to find a seat for a Saturday afternoon. A decent selection of pints and a good mix of locals with some tourists made for a enjoyable hour or so.
A small enough pub of long standing in one of the few original buildings in its surroundings, the pub was probably less well known than the seafood restaurant on the second floor, which closed a few years back. The entire area around the pub has been heavily redeveloped, and the photo on the Come Here To Me article about it shows it standing alone in 1979.
Once I found my way inside, it was surprisingly easy to find a seat for a Saturday afternoon. A decent selection of pints and a good mix of locals with some tourists made for a enjoyable hour or so.
1004917 Lemon & Duke
Once upon a time, as an F1-obsessed early teenager, I was determined that I would go out to Eddie Irvine's Cocoon bar off Grafton Street. Everything about his image and how the bar was presented in the media appealed to me.
By the time I'd turned 18, the effective death of Jordan F1 (they continued to exist in that year, but a shell of the former team) and continuing decline of the actual appeal of watching F1 (that continues to this day) meant I had no interest anymore and I never actually went there. It seems its appeal waned for everyone else also as it closed some years later in 2009, albeit amidst a bloodbath in the pub industry - as the reference to Thomas Read Group's issues in that article attest to.
Still, the premises lived on in new guises. After a period as the Grafton Lounge, the new incarnation as Lemon and Duke is now again part-owned by sports stars, although of a less money driven and still engaging to watch variety.
The pub is very fancy and very southside, neither of which usually makes me like a place. However, it doesn't take either to excess and, once you get past the wait staff at the door making it feel a bit like a restaurant, it's fine. The downstairs seating area (near the toilets unfortunately, but there aren't many other reasons for a modern pub to have a basement) seems particularly cosy as a place to have a small group.
The bar claims to be one of two places, along with The Bridge 1859*, to have unpastuerised tanked Pilsner Urquell in Ireland, which I forgot to actually try. It does seem a bit of a marketing gimmick but there's good reasons it could actually have a positive affect on taste. The connections with the sister venue extend to the barmats which have one pub on each side; a minor cost saving and a decent marketing opportunity in one.
*one of the premises I visited pre-blog, but also pre- its current name. My one and only drink there when it was called Bellamys, three weeks underage, during the BT Young Scientist exhibition. At least I wasn't wearing my school uniform, which another nearby pub served me in!
By the time I'd turned 18, the effective death of Jordan F1 (they continued to exist in that year, but a shell of the former team) and continuing decline of the actual appeal of watching F1 (that continues to this day) meant I had no interest anymore and I never actually went there. It seems its appeal waned for everyone else also as it closed some years later in 2009, albeit amidst a bloodbath in the pub industry - as the reference to Thomas Read Group's issues in that article attest to.
Still, the premises lived on in new guises. After a period as the Grafton Lounge, the new incarnation as Lemon and Duke is now again part-owned by sports stars, although of a less money driven and still engaging to watch variety.
The pub is very fancy and very southside, neither of which usually makes me like a place. However, it doesn't take either to excess and, once you get past the wait staff at the door making it feel a bit like a restaurant, it's fine. The downstairs seating area (near the toilets unfortunately, but there aren't many other reasons for a modern pub to have a basement) seems particularly cosy as a place to have a small group.
The bar claims to be one of two places, along with The Bridge 1859*, to have unpastuerised tanked Pilsner Urquell in Ireland, which I forgot to actually try. It does seem a bit of a marketing gimmick but there's good reasons it could actually have a positive affect on taste. The connections with the sister venue extend to the barmats which have one pub on each side; a minor cost saving and a decent marketing opportunity in one.
*one of the premises I visited pre-blog, but also pre- its current name. My one and only drink there when it was called Bellamys, three weeks underage, during the BT Young Scientist exhibition. At least I wasn't wearing my school uniform, which another nearby pub served me in!
S0111 The Old Stand
This and the next few pubs were actually visited in September. I'll forget this when doing my month on month comparison at the end of the year, but I can't backdate them or they'll never appear as new updates.
The Old Stand is a heavily rugby themed pub, with photos and newspaper clippings on the wall relating the name to the 1920s East Stand in the original Lansdowne Road stadium. However, the pub's website gives a claim of 300+ years of a pub on the site, and I do have a former name recorded on the map.
This is quite a small pub, with a bar on the Exchequer Street side and a small lounge of sorts behind. A full food service is offered, which is rare in a premises this small. Anyone male of any stature will have to watch their head the entire way down to the gents.
This is a decent traditional city centre pub all told, but the location (and the menu) mean it is probably becoming more of a tourist haunt than anything else.
The Old Stand is a heavily rugby themed pub, with photos and newspaper clippings on the wall relating the name to the 1920s East Stand in the original Lansdowne Road stadium. However, the pub's website gives a claim of 300+ years of a pub on the site, and I do have a former name recorded on the map.
This is quite a small pub, with a bar on the Exchequer Street side and a small lounge of sorts behind. A full food service is offered, which is rare in a premises this small. Anyone male of any stature will have to watch their head the entire way down to the gents.
This is a decent traditional city centre pub all told, but the location (and the menu) mean it is probably becoming more of a tourist haunt than anything else.
Wednesday, 3 October 2018
October 2018 Licence Update and Year-on-Year check
This is the last full licence file of the licencing year so is the one that year-on-year comparisons are made against.
Additions:
1014121 Lucky Duck, Aungier Street
1014503 Hotel 7, Gardiner RowLucky Duck, Aungier Street
S0243 Comans/Bottlers Bank, Rathgar. This has been AWOL off the register for some time but the Bottlers Bank element of the pub has been trading nearly the whole time.
S1268 Rathfarnham House, Rathfarham. I believe this is still a creche so not sure why it has reappeared!
Renumbered
1014500 Trinity City Hotel, Pearse Street renumbered from 1013580 (and it had only been renumbered very recently!)
1014505 Clayton Hotel Clonshaugh renumbered from N2575
1014606 Clayton Hotel, Donnybrook renumbered from S3568
The following licences are closed (to the best of my knowledge) and have not appeared on the register in the 2017/18 licencing year so will be moved to red pins on the map. Some of those I did from the 2016/17 year reappeared again over the year though.
1008105 Eden, Sycamore Street
1001897 Bunker/Carbon, Point Village (this is physically gone now I believe, for the development of the Exo Building)
1009202 Hangar, Andrews Lane (demolished for redevelopment as a hotel)
N0308 Garristown Inn, Garristown
N1117 Blackhorse Inn, Inchicore
N2004 Zanzibar, Ormond Quay (site to be redeveloped as a hotel)
N2581 Madison, Tallaght
S0149 Howl At The Moon, Mount Street (site to be redeveloped as a hotel)
S0228 Castle Inn, Rathfarnham
S3578 Fortunestown Inn (Molly Heffernans), Fortunestown
Not a closed premises, but Pebble Beach in Clontarf appears to have dropped its second licence, 1007331, which was a theatre licence legacy from the old days of later opening.
Additions:
1014121 Lucky Duck, Aungier Street
1014503 Hotel 7, Gardiner RowLucky Duck, Aungier Street
S0243 Comans/Bottlers Bank, Rathgar. This has been AWOL off the register for some time but the Bottlers Bank element of the pub has been trading nearly the whole time.
S1268 Rathfarnham House, Rathfarham. I believe this is still a creche so not sure why it has reappeared!
Renumbered
1014500 Trinity City Hotel, Pearse Street renumbered from 1013580 (and it had only been renumbered very recently!)
1014505 Clayton Hotel Clonshaugh renumbered from N2575
1014606 Clayton Hotel, Donnybrook renumbered from S3568
The following licences are closed (to the best of my knowledge) and have not appeared on the register in the 2017/18 licencing year so will be moved to red pins on the map. Some of those I did from the 2016/17 year reappeared again over the year though.
1008105 Eden, Sycamore Street
1001897 Bunker/Carbon, Point Village (this is physically gone now I believe, for the development of the Exo Building)
1009202 Hangar, Andrews Lane (demolished for redevelopment as a hotel)
N0308 Garristown Inn, Garristown
N1117 Blackhorse Inn, Inchicore
N2004 Zanzibar, Ormond Quay (site to be redeveloped as a hotel)
N2581 Madison, Tallaght
S0149 Howl At The Moon, Mount Street (site to be redeveloped as a hotel)
S0228 Castle Inn, Rathfarnham
S3578 Fortunestown Inn (Molly Heffernans), Fortunestown
Not a closed premises, but Pebble Beach in Clontarf appears to have dropped its second licence, 1007331, which was a theatre licence legacy from the old days of later opening.