S1586 Jacobs

A village-style local in the growing suburb of Saggart, Jacobs had a small cohort of locals in the bar when I visited; all on first-name terms with the staff and assisting them in decorating the room for the All Ireland Final (the first go at it anyway) the next day.

Everything was nice enough until I walked in to a haze of smoke in the toilets - someone who wasn't in the bar earlier was drunk enough that they thought they were in the smoking area, having turned right rather than left. This was early afternoon but they were in a state that suggested it had to be a roll-over from the night before; and certainly in no fit state to be served again. I had finished my pint and was leaving when I saw them approaching the bar - but I wasn't there to see if they were served.

There is a lounge area here also; but it was closed for a private event when I visited so I didn't even stick my head in.

1012522 The Maple Tree

A fairly new addition to the village streetscape of Saggart, the high-end fitout and food centric offering here are in stark contrast to most of the pubs in Dublins outer villages. Saggart, however, is being subsumed to the greater mass of Dublin - with the Luas at the lower end of the village and quick access to the N7 it will only continue to become more and more of a suburb and less of a village.

Saggart used to have two pubs before - Jacobs the other, still extant one - but Jack Kavanagh's burnt out in 2008 and still lies derelict awaiting a redevelopment of it and the adjacent empty site approved last year. (Google Streetview actually has a pass of it fire damaged, if you're feeling ghoulish); and I assumed it had stayed so - as this place opened entirely under my radar. I wasn't aware of it until it eventually appeared on the Revenue lists; something that can take many months. Suburban Dublin really doesn't have strong online coverage or attention, so there may well be more new pubs I'm completely unaware of!

So the Maple Tree appears to have opened in late 2016 or early 2017 anyway. I called in on a middlingly quiet Saturday and was able to get a table to grab my lunch and a few McGargles at easily enough; although there weren't many others free.

They brand it as a "Bar & Bistro", and food is definitely the main draw here - they open at 9 daily for breakfast despite not being able to serve alcohol for some hours after that. However, unlike some of the city centre food-centric venues with pub licences; I got the impression that there's no problem dropping in for pints alone here at any stage that they're serving.

The main similarity with many of the new city centre venues is the fitout - it has been designed, executed, and most importantly maintained (as the venue is maybe 3 years open now) to an extremely high standard. Plenty of the fancier pubs in the city could do with dropping out here to see how to keep stuff clean and looking new.

I think I may have read too many Pub Spy editions if I'm starting to get overly concerned with the cleanliness... really must get back to digging through street directories for research instead!

S1509 Old Royal Oak

Third time lucky, due to never remembering to check the opening hours - finally the Old Royal Oak is open when I drop past. I've passed it open on other occasions, either when it was rammed due to a gig in Kilmainham; or I've been driving (usually due to working at a gig in Kilmainham!)

From one side, the pub is a relic of the pubs of Dublin of centuries ago, and from another vantage point - say looking down, or climbing up, the stepped laneway from the River Camac it could be a corner bar in Porto, Tallinn or any other European Old Town.

The pub is a lot younger than it actually appears - it "only" dates to 1839! Its very English name presumably comes from its connection to the original customer base - the staff of the Royal Hospital which has since become IMMA.

There were actually at least two other pubs named the Royal Oak in Dublin in recent memory - one on the North Road in Finglas, which I believe is still an empty site; and another at Heuston Station which was demolished, replaced by the Sadlers Inn pub/hotel; and is now the First Ireland Insurance offices.

The pub is on the small side, but outside of gig nights you should be able to squeeze in somewhere, and its definitely worth the bit of a trip out of the city centre if that is where you usually limit yourself to.

September 2019 licence update

Only one addition this month, and I don't know what it is:

1015609 - 17 Harcourt Street. There is permission for a pub at 16 Harcourt Street next door but this hasn't commenced as far as I know. The licence holder here is a company controlled by the applicant from what I can see. May have to drop out and take a look!