32 Pints - The Adrian Chiles Challenge

Adrian Chiles has written about his desire to have a pint in every county in Ireland - something similar to my intent here with pubs in Dublin, but something even more logistically difficult. He brings this desire up as he mentions a couple trying to visit every pub in Britain, something I would find financially, logistically and probably liver impossible to match in Ireland.

Ignoring the temptation to try visit every pub in the entire country and just focus on one per county; I decided to see how far along I was already. 

I can remember 20, so more than half, less than two thirds; but I have little intent to push on further. I picked up a lot of these while working as a field engineer, over a decade ago, and that's why its extensively hotel bars. LOI matches provide a few here too.

My last additions to the list were Westmeath, in August 2024; Offaly in April 2022 and Sligo in August 2021; so there isn't a rapid gain rate here.

Going to go for a quick list, including a/the premises when I remember

Dublin - about 900 different premises so far, documented nearly in full on this site

Kildare - multiple across the county, considering I live here

Meath - Citynorth Hotel is the only one I can remember confidently. I think I've had pints in the newer hotel in Ashbourne too

Louth - some pub near Oriel Park

Antrim - multiple pubs in Belfast, Portrush

Down - The Coach nightclub in Banbridge

Derry - Magherboy House Hotel just over the county line in Portrush.

Donegal - tens of premises including a project to visit Every Pub In The Rosses

Sligo - multiple premises including the Swagman

Mayo - various hotels in Westport and Ballina

Galway - multiple premises including Tigh Neachtains 

Kerry - various hotels in Listowel

Cork - various hotels and bars including the Old Oak

Waterford - Harveys Bar near-ish the RSC

Wexford - various hotels and bars including Simon Lambert & Sons

Wicklow - multiple premises including Royal Hotel in Bray before a match in the Carlisle Grounds

Carlow - The Foundry nightclub

Kilkenny - various hotels and bars including Matt the Millers before a match in Buckley Park

Offaly - most of the pubs in Tullamore 

Westmeath - various hotels and bars in Athlone including Dead Centre

NecroReview: S3757 Browns Barn, Citywest

A barn - a stables apparently used for the Bianconi horse coach services - converted in the main in to a barn of a pub and restaurant; this place was a regular location for work lunches and even the odd work party when I worked in Citywest.

I still have a pint glass that a work colleague took from here when heading to a taxi home; and then left in my house before getting back to his.

I don't think that pint glass is why they closed; though, but instead the prevailing economy of the time and possibly a change in where drivers stopped for food - this was really more of a restaurant than a pub, but was quite close to the city, and became quicker in time when the Newlands Cross upgrade finished.

The licence was sold out to the Clontarf Baths restaurant, which itself isn't trading right now (at time of writing), but has been sold to NolaClan and I expect will reopen by this Summer. 

S1581 Muldowneys

I've previously commented on it being a tad odd that two of the four pubs in Rathcoole are thatched. Well, it turns out that Muldowneys also was - at least until gutted by fire around New Year 1961/2

Irish Press, December 30th 1961

For some reason, I'm struggling to write particularly much about this pub - it's nice, it was fairly quiet, but it wasn't particularly memorable. Usually the less I remember the better the pub is as a general "local" I guess.