RetroReview: S3744 Sandymount Hotel

Seems my cross-checking of lists wasn't thorough enough, and I did actually miss at least one more pre-2016 visit entirely.

I attended a wedding afters in this hotel, but actually experienced the normal bar also despite there being one in the wedding room - we arrived a bit early, and the main dinner bit was still going on and I think that lurking around the edge while people were eating would be a little weird.

The bar here is, unsurprisingly given the location, rugby branded like some other hotels nearby - The Lineout. My now fading memory was of a hotel guest being slightly miffed as to the limited selection of whiskey on offer, but this was a decade or more ago at this stage and has very possibly changed since.

RetroReview: S0398 Dunnes Stores Blackrock (as TGI Fridays)

Another from the "making sure everything marked off is written up" challenge; this is one of the stranger premises to have to write up.

It's a supermarket, or more realisticially a big convenience store - a store format Dunnes are beginning to roll out, and indeed now have two of that are using pub licences. This one I managed to tick off by visiting it when it was a pub-licenced restaurant.

Once the most expensive pub in Dublin - the pub, not the prices, though it was probably up there - this was best known as The Playwright, run by the Moran Hotel group and particularly popular as a nightlife destination in the early days of late bars. It had a run of wins of the Dublin and eventually National Superpub of the Year in the Black & White Pub Awards, which were taken quite seriously by the press in a way that more recent pub awards have not quite been.

In 2004, it was sold for €8.1m as part of a sell off of various assets by Morans. The bulk of the pub was rapidly converted to a TGI Fridays, which was open by early 2005; but there was also a Dante's Italian (a now defunct sister chain, in Ireland, to TGI Fridays) on site; and some element of remaining bar where you were not expected to eat.

This closed in around 2010 - its quite hard to track down exact dates for crash era closures, there being so many occurring - and the unit lay empty until Dunnes purchased it in about 2018.

While still recognisably an old pub, the thatched roof has been replaced by slates; and an extension built over the "courtyard" smoking area and (leaky, on my visit) glass-roofed entrance lobby that existed in its pub era.

As a TGI Fridays, it put me off the brand forever - I think I may have gone to some abroad when the brand was still owned by Radisson Hotels, to get loyalty points and nothing more; and my reviews of the other TGI Fridays in Dublin (of which only two remain) are not glowing - the chain reaching 7 branches for a time is not a good reflection on Ireland in the mid 00s!

RetroReview: S3727 Flight Club (as Samsara)

I was scheduling this ahead as a NecroReview, but realised that the as-yet impending, but now long since happened, reopening of this premise as Flight Club would make the status inaccurate. It has re-become somewhere open that I visited pre-2016 rather than somewhere dead.

Indeed, I visited there in about 2007; for a merger party / staff meet-up for my then employer; and I'd never been back since. I cannot remember particularly much about it. 

The premises was, at that time, Samsara; or "SamSara at La Stampa" more specifically; the hotel having taken the name of its restaurant for some time before becoming The Dawson.

There were plans to redevelop the hotel along with the adjoining Royal Irish Automobile Club premises which lead to a decision not to reopen Sams after the pandemic; but these fell through in 2022. The hotel has since reopened as The Dawson Hostel - not a hotel; and the bar as Flight Club - a darts themed pub, something a bit odd as a concept considering there's plenty of darts pubs around as it is, including some with darts boards big enough even for me to hit.

RetroReview: S4530 Turks Head

For quite some time after the pandemic, and as I worked my way down the list of RetroReviews to write, I thought this one would be off the list - I had stopped writing up places which were closed down entirely; saving them for later.

And the Turks Head was very closed down, stripped out internally and with little signs of life even as nearly everywhere else in the city returned to a normal level of activity. 

However, the pub reopened with a little fanfare in March 2024, after extensive renovations and a four year closure, end to end. Thus ensuring it gets a writeup on this series of posts.

I was here a few times, mainly on the ground floor but occasionally going to the basement club bits; but not within the last ten or maybe even fifteen years at time of writing, so the actual review section of this is going to stay short

This is, or should be anyway, the last RetroReview - I have written up every pub that I visited prior to 2016, which was still open (pandemic pause nonwithstanding) at the time I got to its writeup; and excepting any ones I forgot to put on the list. Those may get caught and written up in the future; but for now, we're done.

However, there is still a handful of places I visited but were already closed by the time I got to write about them - so there'll be some NecroReviews coming soon. A tiny few of those premises may actually reopen but most are dead forever. I'll leave these til the New Year before re-starting; as I will have a significantly reduced number of posts over Christmas anyway.

RetroReview: S4448 Maldron Hotel Tallaght

Drink with Hooperman before a match in Tallaght Stadium. That's about all I can remember - Hooperman, Shamrock Rovers mascot, doing the rounds - as I knocked a quick pint in here, hiding my Harps jersey under my hoodie.

The hotel is a long term sponsor of the club, as well as the closest public bar to their ground so an obvious place for dinner beforehand and drinks before/after games.

RetroReview: S4419 Copper Face Jacks

I've been here three times, which was three times too many.

I can confirm that you don't have to be heterosexual to end up The Shifting Wall here; or a nurse/Garda for that matter, but I did have to affect far more of a Donegal accent than I ever have normally.

Beyond its reputation for country nurses, GAA finalists and the shifting wall; the most interesting thing about here is how much money the cloakroom makes. This figure used to pop up in media reports, as it was once separated out in financial reports. The last figure I can find is receipts of 217k in 2011

RetroReview: S3781 NoLIta

A pub I've spent many, many hours in - but only a very few in its current incarnation, at a work party of some description that I now can't remember. 

However, as The Dragon I spent probably every second weekend here for the guts of two years. And I can't remember much of those, either; but for very different reasons...

Slotting in to a place in the market for gay bars that possibly doesn't really exist anymore, the crowd here was younger than most places but also not targeting students - except on the specific student nights. 

A former bank, this was converted to to a pub in ~2000 - initially SoSuMe, which was fire damaged in 2005; then The Dragon, and briefly a bonkers "Scandinavian Asian" bar called Soder+Ko before its latest conversion to NoLIta.

What was a very interesting premises got replaced by a generic cocktails-and-pizza place; which might do better for its owners - and certainly eliminated the internal competition with The George under the same ownership - but just isn't of interest for me to go back.

RetroReview: S3446 Plaza Hotel

Another ticked-due-to-work hotel, I set up outside broadcasts from inside and outside (OB truck) the nightclub in the basement here, which I'm pretty sure isn't operating anymore and probably won't ever again...

I actually had the pint to tick off in the bar, which had a terrible name - Grumpy McClaffertys - which seems to have latterly just become McClaffertys and possible isn't even called that at all.

RetroReview: S3359 Morgan Hotel

Another hotel I've not been in since its refurb; I was here quite a bit when I worked in radio as they were a heavy advertiser; and we did multiple outside broadcasts here - from the rooftop suite (which, at the time, had an Airstream caravan craned on to it's huge, huge outdoor area - not sure that's still there!) and gigs from the bar area. 

I also attended my brothers engagement party here when I was 18, which he didn't think I was going to get in to - the bar was very, very strictly >21s at the time. I just dressed a bit more formally and I could probably have convinced the doorman I was 30, so no bothers.

RetroReview: S3759 McGrattans

I've been here a fair few times, and somehow my main memory is of managing to drop my phone in my soup when having lunch once.

No, I've no idea how I did that either

The layout here is a bit mad, if its a weekday the smoking area is a carpark for other offices, and you may run in to Anne Doyle, as she is in a long term relationship with the owner; (albeit it was not listed as her favourite pub when quizzed in 1985, years before she was dating Dan McGrattan and probably before he owned it - I just want to link to that piece I found in the archives)

RetroReview: S3733 Intercontinental Hotel (as the Four Seasons)

I was here once, the day of my brothers wedding; and about all I can remember from it are:

1: Alan Whicker was doing the Irish launch of his biography in another room, with people floating in to the bar with their copies of the book. I did, eventually, see him.

2: They had the heaviest single-use hand towels I'd ever seen before or since

Its changed brands since, from one five-star brand to another; and I'm very unlikely to go back here. Alan Whicker is dead for over a decade, so no chance of running in to him here, either.

RetroReview: S3731 Farrier & Draper (as Spy)

Ah, my youth, where the feck did that go...

A premises divided across multiple rooms of a Georgian mansion, this was definitely more interesting as Spy than it is now; but its probably still worth a look. I was a regular attendee here in 2006-8; but not since.

RetroReview: S3723 Guinness Storehouse

This has to be the least likely "drank there with work" place, surely - but, I did.

First time was doing an outside broadcast from the Gravity Bar; where they were extremely welcoming hosts - food and drink on tap (quite literally) for myself and the presenters.

Second time was a work Christmas party in a side bar further down the structure.

I've never actually done the tourist tour of the place.

RetroReview: S3718 Peader Kearneys

A very traditional Dublin pub, named after the author of the lyrics of our National Anthem, who once lived on the site - surely this is one of Dublin's older pubs?

Nope, its one of the newer ones - indeed it was the first pub in Dublin, possibly in Ireland, to have a licence moved in from outside its local area "at par" - one licence for one new pub, rather than requiring the extinguishment of multiple licences as was the norm for standalone pubs.

I think I visited here shortly enough before starting the blog, when I vaguely thought I'd like to try every pub - but I didn't take any notes. I think I had severe trouble getting a seat, though.

RetroReview: S3467 Vicar Street

I'm actually surprised I've not been back here since I started doing the revisited lists in 2019 - everywhere I have been back to is written up already, cause I did a sweep of that before.

Not sure what there is to say here. Avoid the front seats at a comedy gig unless you're up for being part of the show, I guess.

RetroReview: S3452 The Camden

Is there much point giving you a writeup of my visits to the pool-hall-with-pints element of the old Camden Deluxe/Planet Murphys/etc setup here when every single element of it has changed, and its now a brewpub?

Probably not. I mean, last time I was in the Jimmy Rabbittes bar section of this place, it was half a hotel lobby, half a Belgian frites restaurant

But, it has been ticked regardless of what happened since.

RetroReview: S4236 Royal Dublin Society Showgrounds (RDS)

This is the stadium licence for the RDS, which may apply to other events here with alcohol sales... or may not. Its rather hard to tell.

Without getting in to the weeds of event licences, and potentially getting something very wrong; event bars at otherwise unlicenced premises get covered by a temporary extension on the pub licence of another licence holder in good standing. 

The main players in this game are the Madigan Group, who have a number of pubs around Dublin; and are certainly involved in the running of bars at some events here - you'll see them on your card statements from the Beer Festival, for instance. Guinness used to do this also, but sold out of the business a long time ago.

National Sporting Arena licences on the other hand are a 'new' (2003) class of licence for major sporting arenas - GAA, rugby, football and boxing stadia have these but the Minister can decide on other types if they want to.

So what events have I been to in the RDS that were definitely on the RDS stadium licence? I suspect beer festivals are not; and are using a Madigan extension. But what about gigs?

They're held in the actual stadium bowl, most of the time - indoor ones are not - but are not sporting occasions. However, the legislation refers to events "whether of a sporting or non-sporting nature" that "involves the use of some or all of the playing area or pitch in the arena" - so Linkin Park on the pitch probably *did* use the licence.

The licence also covers "functions", defined as " a conference, exhibition, seminar or reception which is held at a designated national sporting arena but does not involve the use of the playing area or pitch". Does this cover the beer festivals? Almost certainly not, they're not in the stadium bit of the RDS. Can't see it covering a Simmonscourt gig either. 

I'd drunk at a match here anyway, as well as some gigs on the pitch; so I'm sure I'm covered. But I'm also sure I shouldn't have put this on September's revisit list.

RetroReview: S3055 Fleet Street Inn / Buskers

I once had to drag an English stag party I was meeting up with - I knew one of the group and was asked to basically be their tour guide - out of here, and make them get rid of their Carrolls purchased leprechaun wigs.

I'm not sure if that's the entire clientele here, but on the other visit (where I actually drank something, hence ticked), there was plenty of those too; and that was on a winter weeknight rather than a late summer weekend. They do specifically advertise for hen and stag parties, something many other premises balk at.

For the domestic customer, there's an sports focus here, with the "Buskers On The Ball" secondary branding specifically covering this part of the pub.

RetroReview: S3053 Cafe En Seine

I've been here quite a few times, all over eight years ago and significantly before its big refit; so I can't tell you what it's like now at all. And I can barely remember much of what it was.

This was a semi-common going away party location in a previous job, one where the company would pay for an absolutely heap of drinks - the CEO, at my own one, pointed out that he did find this rather odd; which certainly won't have helped.

I also went to one of a number of the modern equivalents of "american wakes" that I had to attend from ~2008-14 here; that one for Australia. The couple in question are now back in Ireland, and owning a house by huge assistance of WFH allowing them to get away from Dublin; but unfortunately there's still a few friends that went to Australia or Canada back then that have not, and may not return... but anyway.

This is quite a big pub, although people sometimes seem to think its even bigger than it is. It was one of the first modern "superpubs" in Dublin, and also the first in an occasionally identified trend of "design pubs", or other similar terms; these being premises on which a significant amount of money had been spent on the fitout and theming. 

The theme here was, as you might guess from the name, Parisian; 1920s initially - I'm not sure what it's like now, as mentioned in the first paragraph. Extensive theming like this is less common on new or refurbished pubs now; but expensive fitouts are now the norm - something I'm sure lots of publicans curse these 1990s superpubs for introducing!

RetroReview: S3250 Brooks Hotel

My one visit here was to drop in to celebrate with two friends who had just got engaged the night before.

Oddly enough when I happened to mention this recently, on their 8th wedding anniversary (the visit was that long ago); they had no memory of it. Possibly a tad too much bubbly was had by all!