In two previous jobs, that covered a full decade between them, I would semi-frequently go for lunch and/or drinks in the Liffey, via the N2741 MV Cill Airne / The Boat pub, which is in a former liner tender, permanently moored on North Wall Quay.
This is the only current full pub licenced boat in Dublin; but its not the only place you can get a drink afloat. Ignoring the Irish Sea ferries plying in and out of Dublin Port, there are currently three Dublin registered vessels with boat liquor licences (Passenger Vessel Licence - allowing sale of drink for people being conveyed from one place to another) - the Dublin Bay Cruises St Bridget (which I have had the pleasure of drinking on); and the two Grand Canal barges - 1014816 Canal Boat Restaurant (MV Cadhla) and N2427 La Peniche (MV Riasc)
However, Dublin has had a few other floating licenced premises. I'm going to cover the three former that I currently know about now, all of which are rather more chaotic than the four we currently have:
MV Arran
This venture from 1983 has some superficial similarities to the Cill Airne - a converted commercial vessel (the Islay car ferry), permanently moored to the North Quays, and holding a conventional publicans licence. However, unlike the Cill Airne, it only stayed open for a few months.
Costing Eamonn Andrews Studios - the media and entertainment company founded by TV presenter Eamonn Andrews - £750,000 to convert - €2.95m after currency conversion and inflation calculations - in 1983. Notably, the champagne bottle failed to smash at the "launching", something that is usually seen as a bad omen - however, the boat was neither being launched or even renamed at the time, so this shouldn't apply...
...except maybe it did. The MV Arran closed in Dublin in January 1984. The vessel was moved to Manchester for an attempted re-launch as a nightclub in 1986; but this also failed and she was broken up in 1993.
Maid of Allen
A 1928 built Grand Canal Company barge (serial 57M), this vessel seems to have come to Dublin for use during the 1988 Millennium for tours; obtaining a boat liquor licence at some stage in 1989/1990.
Rather rapidly, however, the boat came to the attention of the OPW - the then operators of the Grand Canal - for not actually moving at all during its alleged voyages, and serving people whilst parked up - the owner eventually being fined for multiple sample counts of this
A normal pub licence would have sufficed for being parked up (as we see with The Boat and the MV Arran), except newspaper reports of extremely late service, after other pubs had shut, suggests that it was still claiming to be a passenger vessel and not just a tethered boat pub.
Irish Independent, April 23 1991
The OPW seized the vessel in February 1991 and sold by tender in April 1991; with further less formal sale ads in May 1991 looking like it was bought and flipped.
It relaunched in September1991, actually moving while serving this time, and the last reference I find to it is in May 1992 - when someone is charged with stealing the till, some alcohol, and some pictures from the walls in April 1992.
The vessel is now a houseboat, details are not entirely clear as to where and indeed as its now someones house, I wouldn't tell you even if I had found them.
Laura Lucy
This one is possibly the most bonkers - a former German police boat, this spent a brief period working the Grand Canal with a boat liquor licence (1002841 - this is in the era I have documentation for) as a party boat with; allegedly the staff dressed as German police.
Oddly, for something potentially connected to clubbing in Dublin at the time, I had never heard of it; but it seems to have been an after party location. I first learned that it had even existed when Revenue provided me with some pre-2016 licence registers
There was a drowning of someone who had been attending an event there, which may have hastened the end of its time in Dublin.
It then moved to Galway, and had a more sedate use as a cafe; and is now a moored rental accommodation venue, linked up above with the German police uniforms claim. The bar appears to be intact, a Pioneer sound system definitely is, and I'm sure you can buy replica German police uniforms online if you want to recreate the club days.
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