One of the former Bewleys Hotels that were bought by Dalata and rebranded to Clayton a few years ago; this hotel is in the middle of a business campus adjacent to the M50 - but is quite accessible by public transport due to the Central Park Luas stop nearby.
There is likely to be some trade from the nearby businesses in addition to that generated from the hotel guests; as the bar is quite sizeable. Its unmistakably a hotel bar in look and feel but is still more pub-like than some other business-focused Dalata hotels I've been to.
I'm not sure if you'd ever go out of your way to drink here; but if more apartments are built nearby it will certainly suffice as a local.
Monday 30 December 2019
Monday 23 December 2019
N1123 Slatts
You don't usually come across a pub in the middle of a housing estate - well, the ones attached to suburban shops aside. Slatts hasn't even got an adjoining bookies let alone a row of shops to accompany it; and is probably the only pub in the middle of an estate from this era.
The lounge was not obviously open from outside, so I went in to the bar. The lounge was, however, open - just with the curtains drawn.
The bar had a limited range of taps, but this included both an Open Gate tap, and one from the local Rascals Brewery. Rascals Taproom / Restaurant back in Inchicore village was where I was heading, for the Beoir Christmas Party; but I had plenty of time to have a second pint here and listen to the locals discussing the former names of pubs in the village - almost as if they had scheduled an appropriate conversion for me to earwig!
And despite its location within the City area, there is more than a slight feel of a rural pub here - both from the outside and from the atmosphere within. The pub stands out, taller than the squat houses surrounding it and with more external lighting
The lounge was not obviously open from outside, so I went in to the bar. The lounge was, however, open - just with the curtains drawn.
The bar had a limited range of taps, but this included both an Open Gate tap, and one from the local Rascals Brewery. Rascals Taproom / Restaurant back in Inchicore village was where I was heading, for the Beoir Christmas Party; but I had plenty of time to have a second pint here and listen to the locals discussing the former names of pubs in the village - almost as if they had scheduled an appropriate conversion for me to earwig!
Sunday 22 December 2019
N0197 Taproom 47
Formerly The Tap - and named as such due to being a tied house of the Watkins Jameson Pim brewery - this pub was all externally prepped for reopening as Taproom 47 in early 2018, and then nothing happened. For over a year. Local rumour was that there were drainage/sewage issues, and as the pub is split between an older building and the ground floor of a newer apartment block there's good reason to believe this as possible.
But in Mid November, I got indications via boards.ie that it had actually opened, and popped in on an early evening. I was slightly worried that the term "Taproom" was going to be incredibly abused here; but I walked in to a large lounge area with a decent row of Irish craft taps, some foreign products and a good selection of cans and bottles in the fridges - unfortunately no list was available yet for them.
The corner bar of the pub has the standard conventional macro lineup that would be expected in Dublin; and is nearly totally separated from the lounge by a wooden partition.
Prices are pretty reasonable and because it was only just open, it wasn't particularly busy. There's no food on offer (or at least wasn't that soon after opening), so I nipped around to N0192 Bonobo (written up when it was still The Richmond) to get a pizza and came back to have another pint before heading for my tram. Bonobo by comparison was packed - so Taproom 47 could be a good option for when that's the case
I do wish they'd kept the original name, seeing as it was the last active link to the brewery in Dublin; or at least the last that is definitely genuine - the registered address and company name of the producers of Dalkey Mustard is that of Watkins Jameson Pim but I can't find evidence to suggest its actually connected.
But in Mid November, I got indications via boards.ie that it had actually opened, and popped in on an early evening. I was slightly worried that the term "Taproom" was going to be incredibly abused here; but I walked in to a large lounge area with a decent row of Irish craft taps, some foreign products and a good selection of cans and bottles in the fridges - unfortunately no list was available yet for them.
The corner bar of the pub has the standard conventional macro lineup that would be expected in Dublin; and is nearly totally separated from the lounge by a wooden partition.
Prices are pretty reasonable and because it was only just open, it wasn't particularly busy. There's no food on offer (or at least wasn't that soon after opening), so I nipped around to N0192 Bonobo (written up when it was still The Richmond) to get a pizza and came back to have another pint before heading for my tram. Bonobo by comparison was packed - so Taproom 47 could be a good option for when that's the case
I do wish they'd kept the original name, seeing as it was the last active link to the brewery in Dublin; or at least the last that is definitely genuine - the registered address and company name of the producers of Dalkey Mustard is that of Watkins Jameson Pim but I can't find evidence to suggest its actually connected.
Friday 20 December 2019
Pirate Premises - Radio Stations Based In Hotels or Pubs
My recent writeup of 1001099 Bonnington Hotel reminded me of its important place in Dublin's pirate radio history - and how licenced premises have often had close links to the pirate scene. Nightclubs - or specific club nights - were often the only advertisers on the dance pirates I listened to in the early 2000s; and when we go back to the "super pirate" era many of the major players were based out of hotels. In many cases, particularly for the medium wave stations, their entire setup including transmission was at the site of a suitably located hotel; but some of these are only studio locations.
On the linked pages, extensively on dxarchive.com, you will notice many of the major names of Irish radio of recent decades including Ian Dempsey and the late Tony Fenton as working at these stations.
This is an attempt to be exhaustive; but absolutely can't be - I didn't live through much of the pirate era and despite working in radio I don't know everything that came before!
The Bonnington was the Crofton Airport Hotel back then, and was home to ARD - Alternative Radio Dublin as mentioned in that writeup; but the one I was always more aware of was the base at the Portmarnock N0318 White Sands Hotel for Sunshine Radio - unconnected to the current station of that name. Southside Radio's longest standing base was at the Hotel Victor - now S0787 Rochestown Lodge Hotel
Radio Nova's setup was possibly the most complicated, with the station actually taking over the Green Acres Country Club and operating it as "Nova Park". This location in the foothills of the Dublin Mountains was their transmission site and a commercial enterprise but not their studio location, which was on Herbert Street in the city centre. Treble TR also used to broadcast from the same site. I had actually been unsure if this was a pub until today, when a specific archive dig found reference to it for sale with a standard (7 day) publicans licence. Many country clubs/golf clubs are members clubs and aren't in my normal scope.
An odd aside to this was a brief attempt at a pirate television station - Channel D - initially broadcast from the now demolished Camelot Hotel on the Malahide Road.
The introduction of Independent Radio in 1989 reduced the number of stations onair in an area and marginalised the remaining pirate operators, however it did not die out entirely - Phantom broadcast from S0120 Whelans during their pirate era, with their spiritual successor online/temporary licenced station 8Radio having done so also until moving to offices attached to S3175 Mercantile Hotel.
While outside of Dublin, one other example I am aware of is the licenced station for Cavan - Northern Sound - used to have studios at the Cavan Crystal Hotel until destroyed by a fire in 2003.
And finally, we have a seasonally appropriate ending to this, the temporary licenced Christmas FM has broadcast from a hotel for its entire operational life - initially the now demolished S1388 Clyde Court Hotel before moving to the adjacent D4 Hotels complex, then the S3883 Alexander Hotel and returning to the then renamed S0775 Ballsbridge Hotel, where was based until that hotels closure in 2021. It moved to 1013363 Clayton Hotel Liffey Valley for its 2022 season.
Update May 2020
As an aside to some other research, I landed on a reference to ABC Radio Dublin operating from the "Ivy Rooms" - now known as N0906 The Gate Hotel - or Fibbers to most people.
On the linked pages, extensively on dxarchive.com, you will notice many of the major names of Irish radio of recent decades including Ian Dempsey and the late Tony Fenton as working at these stations.
This is an attempt to be exhaustive; but absolutely can't be - I didn't live through much of the pirate era and despite working in radio I don't know everything that came before!
The Bonnington was the Crofton Airport Hotel back then, and was home to ARD - Alternative Radio Dublin as mentioned in that writeup; but the one I was always more aware of was the base at the Portmarnock N0318 White Sands Hotel for Sunshine Radio - unconnected to the current station of that name. Southside Radio's longest standing base was at the Hotel Victor - now S0787 Rochestown Lodge Hotel
Radio Nova's setup was possibly the most complicated, with the station actually taking over the Green Acres Country Club and operating it as "Nova Park". This location in the foothills of the Dublin Mountains was their transmission site and a commercial enterprise but not their studio location, which was on Herbert Street in the city centre. Treble TR also used to broadcast from the same site. I had actually been unsure if this was a pub until today, when a specific archive dig found reference to it for sale with a standard (7 day) publicans licence. Many country clubs/golf clubs are members clubs and aren't in my normal scope.
An odd aside to this was a brief attempt at a pirate television station - Channel D - initially broadcast from the now demolished Camelot Hotel on the Malahide Road.
The introduction of Independent Radio in 1989 reduced the number of stations onair in an area and marginalised the remaining pirate operators, however it did not die out entirely - Phantom broadcast from S0120 Whelans during their pirate era, with their spiritual successor online/temporary licenced station 8Radio having done so also until moving to offices attached to S3175 Mercantile Hotel.
While outside of Dublin, one other example I am aware of is the licenced station for Cavan - Northern Sound - used to have studios at the Cavan Crystal Hotel until destroyed by a fire in 2003.
And finally, we have a seasonally appropriate ending to this, the temporary licenced Christmas FM has broadcast from a hotel for its entire operational life - initially the now demolished S1388 Clyde Court Hotel before moving to the adjacent D4 Hotels complex, then the S3883 Alexander Hotel and returning to the then renamed S0775 Ballsbridge Hotel, where was based until that hotels closure in 2021. It moved to 1013363 Clayton Hotel Liffey Valley for its 2022 season.
Update May 2020
As an aside to some other research, I landed on a reference to ABC Radio Dublin operating from the "Ivy Rooms" - now known as N0906 The Gate Hotel - or Fibbers to most people.
Update November 2020
Another case of running in to something after the original article - Double R Radio is referenced as to having operated from the Waldorf Hotel (now N1195 Clifton Court Hotel) and later N1133 Lucan Spa Hotel in 1981/82
Update June 2023
Despite working in broadcasting of various kinds for the guts of a decade over the years, I was never aware that there had been an actual radio station (as opposed to unscheduled broadcasts) prior to Radio Éireann 2RN - but there was, and it broadcast from a licenced premises. 2BP broadcast in 1923 from S0311 Royal Marine Hotel in Dun Laoghaire
Thursday 19 December 2019
1001099 Bonnington Hotel
This hotel has been renamed at least twice over its lifespan, most recently from The Regency Airport Hotel after a gangland murder - connected only to the hotel by circumstance. Its previous guise as the Crofton Airport Hotel was as notable in its own era for its importance as a music venue (including early U2 gigs) and as the radio studio location for Alternative Radio Dublin / ARD during the "super pirate" era in the 1980s
The hotel looks more than a bit messy from the road - you have a modern single story extension containing a convenience store and the entrance to the bar; the original hotel building with what almost looks like a growth of an extension out the roof (itself festooned with external fire escapes, masts, plumbing etc); followed by a ~70s extension and then a ~90s extension. There is planning in to tidy quite a bit of the front up with a new block, though.
The most recent rebrand coincided with some renovation works, and the signage adjoining the road has been equipped with a covered fourth star, presumably expecting an upgrade from the existing 3. Part of this involved a total refit of the two separate bar facilities, which are now marketed as "McGettigans D9" and "The Croft" respectively. Its all one licence, and McGettigans is closer to the road, so this is where I went
What you get is the modern identikit Dublin bar - metalwork, leather, fancy lighting, lots of cocktails on offer. It'd be fancy by the standards of the area, and would be quite normal if dropped in to the city centre. I think the era of people travelling outside their area to another suburb to go to a "fancy" pub is over, though.
The hotel looks more than a bit messy from the road - you have a modern single story extension containing a convenience store and the entrance to the bar; the original hotel building with what almost looks like a growth of an extension out the roof (itself festooned with external fire escapes, masts, plumbing etc); followed by a ~70s extension and then a ~90s extension. There is planning in to tidy quite a bit of the front up with a new block, though.
The most recent rebrand coincided with some renovation works, and the signage adjoining the road has been equipped with a covered fourth star, presumably expecting an upgrade from the existing 3. Part of this involved a total refit of the two separate bar facilities, which are now marketed as "McGettigans D9" and "The Croft" respectively. Its all one licence, and McGettigans is closer to the road, so this is where I went
What you get is the modern identikit Dublin bar - metalwork, leather, fancy lighting, lots of cocktails on offer. It'd be fancy by the standards of the area, and would be quite normal if dropped in to the city centre. I think the era of people travelling outside their area to another suburb to go to a "fancy" pub is over, though.
Wednesday 18 December 2019
N0313 Kealys
Situated along the old Swords Road, and with very little in the way of residential development anywhere near it, I had always wondered what kind of business Kealys was doing. The answer - enough that there were no seats available on a Saturday afternoon!
Due to the aforementioned lack of anyone living anywhere nearby; the pub has a strong carvery trade and party bookings where transport can be arranged to get people there. You can get the bus there, as I did, but I'd imagine the bulk of trade is food related.
I didn't have the food, having had some in N0800 Forty Four Main Street fairly recently beforehand, but it looked decent for a carvery venue.
Sunday 15 December 2019
N2783 The Old Schoolhouse
The name here describes what you're getting - a former school building, converted in to a nicely chaotic layout of a pub, that focuses heavily on a food trade. They have an adjoining modern build music venue (Chalk Bar) on the same licence which allows them to capture a wider range of trade than the main pub would get on its own
Even the way in here doesn't really make sense - the obvious front door opens to a outdoor area with what appears to be a locked gate. There are two ways in at the ends, neither of which is obvious. But it doesn't seem to stop people getting in, as despite it being early afternoon on a Saturday there weren't a huge amount of seats left free.
This was too early in the day for Chalk to be open, let alone see how busy it gets itself, so all the trade I saw was mainly family meal traffic - so not somewhere obvious for either a quiet pint or a lively night out; but its probably safe to assume the latter is on offer in Chalk
Even the way in here doesn't really make sense - the obvious front door opens to a outdoor area with what appears to be a locked gate. There are two ways in at the ends, neither of which is obvious. But it doesn't seem to stop people getting in, as despite it being early afternoon on a Saturday there weren't a huge amount of seats left free.
This was too early in the day for Chalk to be open, let alone see how busy it gets itself, so all the trade I saw was mainly family meal traffic - so not somewhere obvious for either a quiet pint or a lively night out; but its probably safe to assume the latter is on offer in Chalk
Wednesday 11 December 2019
N0800 Forty Four Main Street
Wahey! Its somewhere I actually liked finally! Its a hotel bar, though, so not the most likely place to go for atmosphere - but the food is good.
This is a small hotel located on the Main Street in Swords, and has been in operation since at least the 1980s, originally as the Hawthorn Hotel.The bar makes up the majority of the ground floor and seems to do a solid food trade. Its comfortable and the food menu is a bit more varied than a normal pub menu - I had a goats cheese soup, which sounds like it could go horribly wrong but was executed perfectly.
A lot of hotel bar visits end up either having a dry carvery or sitting at a perch in a lobby bar that really doesn't want outside visitors (or advertises to them, but makes it impractical to use) so this was a nice change - and rare enough for a hotel substantially outside the city centre. The town centre location probably provides the business for them to operate more like a pub, and as the hotel isn't huge I'd guess it would provide a decent proportion of their income.
This is a small hotel located on the Main Street in Swords, and has been in operation since at least the 1980s, originally as the Hawthorn Hotel.The bar makes up the majority of the ground floor and seems to do a solid food trade. Its comfortable and the food menu is a bit more varied than a normal pub menu - I had a goats cheese soup, which sounds like it could go horribly wrong but was executed perfectly.
A lot of hotel bar visits end up either having a dry carvery or sitting at a perch in a lobby bar that really doesn't want outside visitors (or advertises to them, but makes it impractical to use) so this was a nice change - and rare enough for a hotel substantially outside the city centre. The town centre location probably provides the business for them to operate more like a pub, and as the hotel isn't huge I'd guess it would provide a decent proportion of their income.
Tuesday 10 December 2019
N0307 The Pound
This is the third pub in a row with a negative writeup - I didn't plan this, they just happened to get visited in this order!
There was an extensive boil water notice affecting a substantial area of and around Dublin recently - well, two of them actually. One thing you could not do with unboiled water was make ice; as this doesn't kill bacteria and they'll still be there.
The barman in The Pound was fully aware of this, but probably not aware that I could hear him (how I don't know - the bar isn't big) when discussing with other customers that they were just asking people if they wanted ice and assuming they knew it was made with unboiled water. I initially assumed they were actually telling people it was unboiled, but a customer who entered after me and asked for ice wasn't told.
If you're going to be that dodgy with food safety, maybe don't talk about it that loudly!
There was an extensive boil water notice affecting a substantial area of and around Dublin recently - well, two of them actually. One thing you could not do with unboiled water was make ice; as this doesn't kill bacteria and they'll still be there.
The barman in The Pound was fully aware of this, but probably not aware that I could hear him (how I don't know - the bar isn't big) when discussing with other customers that they were just asking people if they wanted ice and assuming they knew it was made with unboiled water. I initially assumed they were actually telling people it was unboiled, but a customer who entered after me and asked for ice wasn't told.
If you're going to be that dodgy with food safety, maybe don't talk about it that loudly!
Monday 9 December 2019
N1116 Clearys
Someone was shot here in 2003, and I vaguely felt it might happen again during my visit - as a relatively aggressive, extremely drunk man was haranguing some regulars (who all left) and then the barman. Eventually it was just the barman, him and me in the entire pub; which was my cue to drink up and get out.
I didn't hear any news of the barmans demise thankfully, so I may have been over-reacting...
The pub was built about 1850 to serve the growing community of Inchicore developing around the railway Inchicore Works, and still carries the name "GREAT SOUTHERN AND WESTERN RAILWAY HOUSE" along the pediment of the building. Significantly less people work in Inchicore Works now, although it is still a substantial operation, and this may be why the pub was incredibly quiet for a Friday evening... or everyone else knew about the drunken twat already.
Its clear that a decent amount of money has been spent on fitout here, probably quite recently too - the exterior of the pub was renovated and painted about 2017 going on Google Streetview anyway. If the volume of patrons when I visited is indicative of the norm I don't see how they'll ever recover that outlay.
I didn't hear any news of the barmans demise thankfully, so I may have been over-reacting...
The pub was built about 1850 to serve the growing community of Inchicore developing around the railway Inchicore Works, and still carries the name "GREAT SOUTHERN AND WESTERN RAILWAY HOUSE" along the pediment of the building. Significantly less people work in Inchicore Works now, although it is still a substantial operation, and this may be why the pub was incredibly quiet for a Friday evening... or everyone else knew about the drunken twat already.
Its clear that a decent amount of money has been spent on fitout here, probably quite recently too - the exterior of the pub was renovated and painted about 2017 going on Google Streetview anyway. If the volume of patrons when I visited is indicative of the norm I don't see how they'll ever recover that outlay.
Sunday 8 December 2019
N1115 Timothy Crough
This is a rebuilt/replacement premises for an older pub; and is the ground floor of an apartment block. It suffers from this, as its quite larger and a rather odd shape which seemed to have trouble holding an atmosphere.
I was particularly intrigued by repeated signage around the room along the lines of "all drinks ordered at 9pm will be served at 9pm", which suggests there's daytime and nighttime pricing in operation - completely legal but something I haven't seen outside of Temple Bar recently.
There's quite a few pubs in a relatively small area here - all of which I visited before the blog, repeatedly in the case of N1111 Black Lion and N1109 McDowells - and honestly all of which I'd visit again in preference to Croughs. There was nothing strikingly wrong with the place; but the other pubs are just nicer - and the Black Lion does decent grub. My trips to Inchicore are usually football related and often begin in the Black Lion and end in McDowells; but in a previous era when I worked for a CIE contractor, lunch in the Black Lion was also a thing.
I was particularly intrigued by repeated signage around the room along the lines of "all drinks ordered at 9pm will be served at 9pm", which suggests there's daytime and nighttime pricing in operation - completely legal but something I haven't seen outside of Temple Bar recently.
There's quite a few pubs in a relatively small area here - all of which I visited before the blog, repeatedly in the case of N1111 Black Lion and N1109 McDowells - and honestly all of which I'd visit again in preference to Croughs. There was nothing strikingly wrong with the place; but the other pubs are just nicer - and the Black Lion does decent grub. My trips to Inchicore are usually football related and often begin in the Black Lion and end in McDowells; but in a previous era when I worked for a CIE contractor, lunch in the Black Lion was also a thing.
Friday 6 December 2019
N1110 The Glen of Aherlow
I had a few hours to kill on a Friday evening and figured out that hitting the remaining pubs in Inchicore I hadn't been to might be the quickest thing to do - as they're relatively close to the buses back home, and if I did them rapidly enough I could get the last Xpresso service (that run down the Chapelizod Bypass) back rather than have to switch in Lucan.... I ended up switching in Lucan!
The Glen of Aherlow - or Donoghues as most of the external signage says - is the first of the pubs along Emmet Road and despite attending many games in Richmond Park, I had never gone in - N1109 McDowells or occasionally N1124 Tom Taveys getting my business instead normally.
Externally, the pub looks like it could be in some rural village - a set of rusting petrol pumps wouldn't look out of place on the path as there is more than a little of the look of a garage to it with the curved elements to the roof
What you get inside is an old-fashioned Dublin boozer, not in a bad way however - and not the country pub/grocer/undertaker that the outside might suggest! Cheap pints and a good atmosphere for what was relatively early in the evening made for a decent place to spend some time.
Thursday 5 December 2019
N1121 Palmerstown House
I've fallen a bit behind in the pub write ups, with an entire page of unfinished stubs in the correct order awaiting me to fill them in, because I couldn't think of anything to write here. So its back to the shorter writeups from a few years ago.
Large suburban pub, part of the Louis Fitzgerald group and as far as I know, housing their head office. Its extremely generic. If you've been in any other Fitzgerald pub it'll be very familar - lots of wood, standard pub knick knacks on the walls, furniture that's all seen better times, sub-par off licence attached.
Wednesday 4 December 2019
December 2019 licence update
Only two changes of note this month
Addition
1015855 - Marlin Hotel, Bow Lane West
Reapperance
S3908 - The Well, Stephens Green West. Formerly Dandelion and off register for many years.
Addition
1015855 - Marlin Hotel, Bow Lane West
Reapperance
S3908 - The Well, Stephens Green West. Formerly Dandelion and off register for many years.
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