S0195 Farmer Browns Clonskeagh

This branch of the pub-and-restaurant chain Farmer Browns was formerly the Clonskeagh House pub, and some signs inside and out still reflect this. Quite busy, I got what seemed to be the last internal table - which I wouldn't recommend as being great for eating, at least when you're 6'4" - it was a barrel with high stools beside the bar; but which would be fantastic for just drinking at - and there's a decent range of draught here.

With the previous pub - Ashtons - so close up the road and both pushing the idea of being a gastropub; comparisons have to be made. Going on obvious factors - the number of customers, the range of product and the competence of the staff - were all significantly higher in Farmer Browns. Customers are choosing this over the neighbour, and I'd agree with them. There may have been a slight distortion factor that specific evening from Farmer Browns having a large carpark, and there being maybe a minibus of Finn Harps fans there for the UCD game (of which I was one, albeit arriving on Dublin Bus), but that amounted to a small fraction of the total customer base.

On the staff thing, I noted that the uniform appeared to require white runners for bar staff. Anyone who has worked in a bar, or even just been in a bar for long enough will know that this is a very strange decision and that even the most dedicated sneakerhead isn't going to keep white runners clean in that environment. Any other colour of runners will obviously get the same amount of gank on them but just not show it.... but this is a very odd aside.

The food was good, albeit what I ordered was not what I thought it was - entirely my fault misremembering what something actually was and not asking or checking. In the old days, S0253 The Goat was my usual pre-Belfield pub; but its been a long time since I worked on that side of the city, so this will probably be my replacement.

Pub Pipeline 2022

Decided it was worth noting down pubs / bars I believe are likely to (re)open in the short to medium term in Dublin:

N0869 Donaghmede Inn - a very early Lockdown casualty - reopening expected before Christmas

Handels Hotel - bar (formerly S3234 Oscars Cafe Bar) has been closed for years, but will reopen as Messiah shortly

Press Up - Leinster Hotel replacing the former S0149 Howl At The Moon

Press Up - Clerys bar in former Clerys development

S0144 Becky Morgan's - new owners announced on Instagram. Think this has only been closed for a relatively short time.

Tailors Hall, Back Lane - new restaurant to open soon already has a full pub licence on the register

O'Connors, Crumlin - portion of the Submarine/O'Connors complex at the Ashleaf S/C appears to be reopening after some years

Longer term:

Brewdog #2 - Charlemont Square - was expected Autumn 2022, but has some planning permission issues and could lag

Wetherspoons - Aston Quay - old USIT office

Press Up - former S4389 Buck Whaleys / Stone Leaf

Premier Inn - Clery Hotel to the rear of the Clerys redevelopment

Murray Group - renovation/reopening of former N0077 Out On The Liffey / Fibbers Rock Bar (not the main Fibbers)

S1593 Cuckoos Nest - new planning to reopen pub here, with apartments above

Opened:

S0143 "Thomas Rody Mahers" by Press Up, the former Larry Murphys on Baggott Street

S2738 "The Bar" - former TGI Fridays Stephens Green, run by Slatterys of Capel Street

N0302 Arch Bar - former Star, Swords (thanks to William in the comments for this)

1019034 Samuel Bar & Grill - Samuel Hotel, Spencer Dock. 

N1130 The Foxhunter, Lucan by Press Up

S3840 All My Friends, Meath Street - Formerly S3840 Graingers - significant renovation and re-targetting

N0022 Hill 16 - reopened after multi year closure

S1088 Maldron Merrion Road - replacing hotel for the Tara Towers, opened early August with a bar

N0020 Juno - Replaced the closed Red Parrot on Dorset Street

1009755 The Blackrock - reopening of 1009755 Three Tun Tavern

1008963 Tapped - refurb/rebrand of 1008963 Porterhouse Central

Hampton by Hilton, Chancery Street - has a bar, not sure if public?

Kodiak - new sister pub for N0192 Bonobo in what was S0237 Copan

The Saint - League of Ireland / St Pats themed pub in replacing N1115 Timothy Croughs, Inchicore

Underdog - relocated to the bar of N0060 Legal Eagle

Big Mikes Blackrock - fully pub licenced restaurant in Blackrock Shopping Centre

Greedy Eagle - Loyola Group renovation/rebrand of the *other* 1013026 Eagle House

Coopers Corner - replacing S1491 Murrays of Bow Bridge, Kilmainham

Pye Dundrum - new pub from Refresh/Oscars Group replacing S0250 Eagle House

Fidelity - Whiplash Brewing / Big Romance pub replacing N0215 Dice Bar

S0186 Ashtons

This premises had recently (less than two weeks prior, according to the social media) been taken over by Press Up after the previous operators - Hartes of Kildare - lease had expired; and was showing some significant signs of this change. Very few taps were available, staff seemed to be quite confused if you obeyed the sign on the door telling you to wait to be seen by said staff before sitting down, and there was much confusion in finding the card machine when I went to pay for my pint. Because nobody uses cards these days, of course.

Signage was still up for Dew Drop Inn beers - a Kill brewpub owned by Hartes; and there were tap heads for their fellow Kill brewers Trouble - but with no beer from either available. However, there were still some options that were't the standard Press Up Heineken-Ireland-And-Guinness-Only range. Not for long I'd guess.

It's interesting to see the place before it gets fully converted to a Press Up clone; but its not worth going for the service currently. The pub was practically empty on a Friday evening, with its near neighbour (that I'll be writing up next) solidly busy. 

(No number yet) Meaghers

The newest pub in Dublin, and yet not new at all - Meaghers had only been open for a few days when I dived in during the time given to me by a missed bus to get an exceptionally quick list-ticking visit done.

This pub had been a branch of the JG Mooneys chain, and latterly the Horse & Tram - before a few other names in its final years before finally becoming a strip club without a liquor licence. Its fine outside clock - a common Mooneys appendage - had become derelict, the stonework painted red and the windows covered in lurid vinyl stickers.

However, by late 2021, the outside had been cleaned and restored to a good standard, a (new?) clock again worked outside and the pub interior had been restored. But for various reasons, it only opened in February.

The Meaghers also run N1433 Hartstown House and S0967 River Bar, and have done a fine job with the restoration of the pub - punters would be hard pressed to not believe it had not operated as a pub the entire time; and with experienced barman on the taps, the service matches that of an older pub

I need to give the place more than 19 minutes to judge properly, and its in quite a convenient location, so I shall return. 

N1633 Kavanaghs of Castleknock

I'd suggest this might be a good place to be should nuclear weapons be used in the current conflict - as it appears to be constructed out of lead. Perfectly normal phone signal outside drops to basically nothing inside; an there isn't any wifi either. 

This is absolutely fine for going to a pub normally, forces conversation and the like, but I was still trying to sort out whether my replacement flight was going to make it the next day (it did, my run-down of Dungloe's pubs has long since been put up here) and needed email and so on to check this. I also had to go outside to check the train times to head home!

Assuming you are going to a pub for conviviality, and not to drink while on your phone; this place is perfect. Tempting as it was to join in a conversation about bathroom fitting - I need to get a new one in a few months - I decided to take my leave for the train once I'd figured out that one was definitely coming.

N2070 The Carpenter

The storm had returned sufficiently by the time the bus arrive at the Carpenter that I had to bail in the first door that I could see to be open. This was the main bar, which was quite busy and a little bit... malodorous. Damp coats and the like, a smell that two years of outdoor dining, winter closures, 2m spacing and so on has mostly robbed from my memory.

Still, its a decent bar and they had Beamish on the go - with some exceptionally retro glassware. I suspect from some of the likes this got on Instagram/Twitter that it was mistaken for a Guinness glass of the same age, which would generally be even rarer!

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My order was remembered for the second pint, possibly just because I'm about half the age of the average Beamish drinker, but which is still good going in a busy bar.

There was a lot more pub in the building, which I didn't see - my time here becoming limited by needing to dash through snow back to the bus stop with as little wait time as possible for a bus.  

March 2022 licence update

Very quick to handle licence update this month:

Additions:

1018537 Donnybrook Fair, Dundrum Shopping Centre

1018542 Point A Hotel, Moore Lane

Revisited Pubs: February 2022

Just the regulars this month - you can tell 1015426 Rubys is still on limited hours as it hasn't turned up recenty!

N0006 Brew Dock

N2741 The Boat

N0758 Clonsilla Inn

What to do when your flight gets postponed by an entire day due to weather and you now have a spare afternoon? Why, visiting suburban D15 pubs in a storm is a perfectly sensible idea to use up that time - and the 90 minute bus fare makes the jumps between them a lot cheaper than it would have been a few months further back.

Some baseline expectations with these pubs - they're usually quite large, they usually have to appeal to a very mixed audience and they're usually close to city centre prices - big premises, late licences, security if required for nights all bring the cost base up.

I arrived here just as snow began, and sat with my first pint looking at a mini-blizzard out the window - making a decision that if it continued to snow, I'd stick with one pub! 

So, going on the three assumptions - the pub is huge. It also appeals to multiple audiences at once - the lounge area has a section that's clearly used for parties, with signs up about party things you can't do for cleaning reasons (confetti etc); there's a separate bar with racing on; and there's all day food. I needed to get lunch, and knew I could here as I often see my window cleaner tagging himself when having breakfast or lunch here! And the pricing is close enough to city prices, albeit reasonable city prices not six quid a pint grade.

It was just at the changeover time from the lunch to dinner menus, but what I wanted happened to be on both, so there was no discussion necessary about whether it would still be on.

The snow stopped (briefly, as it turned out) and I left to head to the next pub - as determined by what had a bus stop nearby!