While looking for an address to confirm somewhere probably wasn't a pub (Wrights of Fishermans Wharf restaurant which I think may have been the two storey unit opposite the Harbourmaster, but I'm still not confident of that); I came across a 1998 pub crawl of Dublin's docklands by Evening Herald journalist Linda Higgins.
While the docklands were significantly less rough and ready than they had been even five years early by 1998, they were not what they are today, and could be a somewhat dodgy place to hang around. The article was written for the first arrival of the Tall Ships Race to Dublin, so there would be large crowds in the area looking for refreshment. It was not a suggestion that people would randomly go to the docklands for pints!
I have previously written of my own micro-crawl of the very few remaining pubs on the South Quays, covering how many there once were. By 1998, only some of these still existed; but the Herald covers both sides of the river to give a good number of places. There are also, unfortunately grainy, photos of most of these pubs - some of which were in their final years of operation.
The pubs are not in an order that you could have practically visited them in, particularly with there being two fewer bridges over the Liffey in 1998, but I'll cover them in the order from the paper.
The first premises that Linda writes up is The Funnel at 24 City Quay, which she describes as recently opened. I knew of this more as a music venue, operating from ~1997 to ~2000, but there was a restaurant there too according to the review, which complimented its food. This was an early part of the South Docks to be redeveloped, and I believe this is now an apartment building with TC Mathews Carpets in the location of the pub.
Jumping over the river, the next pub is N1833 Harbourmaster. This still trades, although there were plans afoot to demolish the newer section of the pub to replace it with a hotel. For a second pub in a row, a food menu being "Californian" is mentioned, something I don't quite grasp - I've eaten in the Harbourmaster many times from the 00s onwards and never thought of the food as Californian!
The then Jurys, now N1900 Hilton Garden Inn comes next. This was the first of the now many hotels built or under construction in the North docklands, and has changed significantly since - there was apparently a newsagents and a very seperated pub area to it in 1998.
Leaping back across the water, the then newly renovated S0153 The Ferryman is next. This also still trades and is a semi regular location for me, it serving as one of the two regular pubs for work events in my current job.
Linda then heads, or writes, back along the quay towards the city to Colombia Mills. This is another place I had known of a music venue first and foremost, but in 1998 it also had Colombia Bar & Grill on the premises; offering very very traditional sounding Irish pub food for the time. Considering I went in to see the Tall Ships and almost certainly got brought to get extremely bland stodgy pub food somewhere, I do wonder whether I did actually get to Colombia Mills; as an unaware 11 year old!
Continuing back Westwards, we then next get to S3132 O'Reillys under Tara Street Station, still trading and still doing food; despite it never having crossed my mind that they would. This is the pub furthest out of the docks covered in the main article.
We then have a neck-snapping return back East on the South docks, to get to Dockers. This both is and isn't the pub currently trading with that name from some rare surviving original buildings - it was half the size and significantly less fancy in 1998; and only survived the wrecking ball by not having been demolished before the Tiger died. Food, not a regular offering, was being added for the duration of the Tall Ships.
We now teleport across the river to Valance & McGrath, of which the building and possibly some of the interior still exists, as the Bottle Boy bar of 1016228 Dean Docklands hotel. This was one of the last traditional Docklands pubs to close - really the last, because The Ferryman only ever briefly closed for a refurb - but did food offerings and hence got listed.
A non-pub, in Quay 63 restaurant, is up next. This is not well documented online, but after much digging I am fairly sure it was in the small red building beside the old British Railways Hotel that was knocked in the mid 2010s for Salesforce. This is followed by another, I believe, non pub in the elusive Wrights in the IFSC.
Two final recommendations for drinking alone are giving - Kellys pub, quite far out in to the South docks, which would not last for much longer after 1998; and Kennedys (now S0022 The Workshop) at Tara Street station - even further in to the city than O'Reillys.
Rather strangely, the photo montage at the top contains two premises which are not written up - Campions, which was knocked to build the Convention Centre (but did not give its licence to it - it has a unique National Convention Centre licence); and the Point Depot. The latter may have been in lieu of Quay 63 which is not photographed, and neither is Wrights.
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