S0265 Dunphys

Dun Laoghaire has a particularly high density of pubs along Georges Street, even with some closures over the past decade, both permanent (the shopping centre redevelopment) and potentially temporary. It w

There are multiple reasons for this, including the former mailboat and later car ferry traffic; being a commuter town from the early Victorian era onwards and the extra commercial status as a township it held from about the same time until the early-90s split-up of Dublin County Council.

Dunphy's is a fine example of a pub from this era, with a Victorian or at least Victorianesque interior (I have little knowledge on how to tell the age of woodwork!) that rivals the famed list of Victorian pubs in Dublin.

I was drawn in here by the food menu inside the door, but it turned out that the chef works split shifts on a Monday at least and I had missed the end of the lunch service. However, soup and a toasted special were still available to be prepared by the barman and these were bought.

I had ventured out to Dun Laoghaire with a dual purpose - visit some of its many pubs, and to visit the Local Studies department of the vast DLR Lexicon library. I expected this to be similar to the reading room in the Dublin City Library & Archives on Pearse Street, with the most commonly requested items on open shelving, and a decent number of computer terminals for accessing online resources. Instead you get a huge hall with the bulk of the collection shelved - and locked behind glass; and no staff available without appointment; although single item requests can be facilitated by the main desk.

There was one book here which is unique to DLR across all public libraries in Ireland, namely a 1949 tour guide entitled "Where To Drink" by Tom Merry of the still-extant Licensing World trade magazine. This book covers all 32 counties to some extent, but Dublin particularly and has a mix of reviews and placed advertising from many pubs. The print and photographic quality is incredible for a book of that era, particularly printed so soon after the end of WWII and the limited resources that resulted. There is also a copy in the National Library, but zero copies are showing for sale on Alibris or AbeBooks.