EPITR: LEAD01 Donegal Airport

I said I wasn't going to cover Aerodrome licences anymore a few years ago, when employment meant that I had a compromised position in relation to nearly all of them in Dublin (in that I worked for their landlord); but I neither still work there, nor ever worked for the owners of Donegal Airport... so I'm covering this one. I'm running dangerously short of content after all.

This is the International airport in Ireland with the lowest passenger numbers, by some margin - 56k in 2025 compared to well over 400k at Kerry - and as such it isn't surprising that there is only a single bar, in the combined landside arrivals and departures area. This bar is also the cafe, and the shop - despite the reintroduction of duty free to the UK in recent years, the three or four flights a week to Glasgow don't justify having an airside shop.

However, as goes small alcohol selections in a mixed premises, there's more here than you might expect; but all in bottles or cans. This includes a large selection from the nearest brewery, Errigal at the Caisléain Óir Hotel in Annagry.

While sitting waiting for your flight to depart, you can also read the airports free magazine, which has more than a slight feeling of the now ended Aer Lingus Cara magazine to it; if Cara had only ever written its tourism articles about Donegal rather than worldwide Aer Lingus destinations that is! 

EPITR: LEP081 Sweeneys Hotel

This hotel was derelict - very, very derelict - before undergoing an extremely lengthy renovation in the early 2020s. 

Documented by an episode of At Your Service which no longer appears to be on RTE Player, from Summer 2022, the hotel eventually opened in July 2024, but I believe some other elements of the redevelopment took longer than this to be finished.

But finished they now are, with everything open. There is a courtyard area with a bar - this wasn't actually open on the Wednesday afternoon I came through, a pizzeria and a bakery; and there's also a small traditional hotel bar to the front of the main hotel building.

This bar is presumably more intended for guests of the hotel, but it is open to the public. That "public" was just me during my time there, but as my pint was poured by a receptionist; it isn't like they are losing money having the bar physically open during the day. 

Dungloe has a lot of bars, including a lot of licenced, closed bars; so it is unlikely that there's much market to be carved out amongst locals here. But I doubt that's the point.

EPITR: 1019263 Crolly Distillery

This is a first for me - not as distillery tour as I've done many of those before; but a Producers Retail (On) Licence. This newest category of liquor licences was introduced in 2018 as an available add-on to a manufacturers licence; alongside an equivalent Producers Retail (Off) Licence for those who wish to sell off-sales only. 

This licence type can be generated from new, not requiring surrender of an existing pub licence; saving the five figure expense of buying one. The Off licence can even be issued by the District Court, reducing legal costs even further, and they are both cheaper to renew than a pub licence. They are, however, vastly more limiting than a pub licence and hence many busier places will use those instead - hence the Dublin distillery and brewery premises I have written about before with full pub licences like Rascals, Teelings and so on.

There are only about 30 of these licences - both types combined - in existence, and only a single one in Dublin which I have yet to visit. Donegal is very heavily represented in them, with both Sliabh Liag sites (the distillery and the bottling plant), Baoilleach Distillery and Kinnegar Brewing also having licences.

The On licence allows for daytime (7pm latest) on-sales of products to those who have undergone a tour of the facility - but this tour can be as basic as you want - a joke at the time of introduction was that a brewery could basically go "there's the fermenters, there's the bar" and have satisfied the requirements.

The Crolly tour is at the other end of the scale though, being quite in-depth; and up close - as the stills were cold, with the days run planned for later, I was brought right up to them; and brought to the - but not across - the threshold of their on site bonded warehouse.

The tour includes a tasting of their new make, unaged spirit; as well as at least one of their released whiskeys (these may still be contract products - "matured and bottled on site" is specified on the retail packaging). I also had a tasting of their soon to be released Oloroso cask product, which was definitely distilled on site. You can upgrade all the way to a €150 tour, but this seemed a bit excessive!

The bar area at the end is quite nice, and large enough to comfortably cater for a bus tour of visitors; but not ridiculous for when there is just one solo tourist like there was for a brief period after my tour.

EPITR: LEP209 The Lobster Pot

The first addition in quite some time to my Rosses side project, I took this cold and potentially damp April afternoon as a good reason to head out to Burtonport rather than limewash my house; after checking that the Lobster Pot would be open before committing to the walk, and the ferry fare.

Conventionally, this pub - and noted seafood restaurant - only opens five days a week, Wednesday to Sunday; but they added Monday and Tuesday this week due to the Bank Holiday and school holidays. They had a reasonable number of customers, primarily there to eat, during my visit; so I suspect the additional days were worth it.

Burtonport once (in my lifetime - there may have been more before) had four pubs in the core village area, five in the wider area, and a sixth a bit further out; but it now only has the Lobster Pot and LEP208 Jimmy Johnnys, in the imposing former railway hotel building just slightly closer to the sea that the Lobster Pot.

The two pubs are quite the contrast inside - the Lobster Pot being heavily greebled and featuring framed GAA jerseys on the walls and ceilings, with Jimmy Johnnys being comparatively quite modern and austere in decoration terms. The Lobster Pot has Errigal IPA on tap, compared to Errigal Oir lager further down towards the pier.

I didn't eat anything on this visit, mainly because I wasn't hungry; but also because I don't really eat seafood; despite being descended from a fishing, and fishing boat building, family. This is what the premises is really known for, and while I still think I'd prefer to do serious drinking down the road; I doubt you're going to find a better seafood restaurant nearby. And they certainly won't have a proper bar like this place does.

EPITR: LEP208 Jimmy Johnnies (O'Donnells Bar)

This substantial premises was once a railway hotel, as Burtonport was the terminus of the Letterkenny & Burtonport Extension Railway of the Londonderry & Lough Swilly Railway. It is still quite an imposing structure for a small village to have:

Pub 4, the old railway hotel, apparently should be open. It isn't. My ferry goes from here anyway so I'll be hanging around waiting regardless pic.twitter.com/TPW6aPZKiE

— Cian Duffy (@cian_duffy) June 18, 2024

(this photo looks quite dark because it was actually incredibly bright, despite the clouds, which was overloading the camera sensor - it just wasn't very warm!) 

But it doesn't have the same effect as when it had the ornate pediment that it once had, as seen when captured in the Lawrence Collection.

The bar and lounge occupy pretty much the entire ground floor, and while I think I can remember a different layout - possibly more snug-like in the lounge - from when I was a kid; it has been recently renovated in part so this may have changed recently enough.

When I turned up, the bar was not actually open; but the owner turned up shortly after; and within an hour was replaced behind the bar by the afternoon shift staff member - presumably he decides whether to bother on quiet days, and it was indeed a very quiet day; with just me and one other customer there during the time he was solo on the bar. That owner is the fourth generation of his family to run this pub; having had it since its first days as a hotel.

The wooden pods visible outside in my photo are seen all across this part of Donegal, a standard addition during the pandemic outdoor service era and possibly subvented by the council or another body. They have stood up quite well to the harsh weather conditions in this area.

EPITR: LEP073 McCaffertys, Dungloe

There aren't all that many pubs in The Rosses; but as two of them are operated by the one chain, and they also have one in Dublin; I need to put the town name in the title to clarify it.

This is a large pub, fitted out to a very high standard, and you may end up paying for that depending on what you buy - a €6 pint is exceptionally expensive for Dungloe; but I was drinking a local APA rather than my usual for ticking Smithwicks, which I imagine is a bit cheaper.

They also do food here, which most of the other pubs in the town don't.

EPITR: LEP079 Patrick Johnny Sallys

This is the first individual writeup for my summer/holiday fill-in series of Every Pub In The Rosses.

Patrick Johnny Sallys was not open on the day I attempted to knock off every pub in Dungloe; but opened again shortly afterwards. It had not opened at any point during the restricted opening periods during the pandemic - it does not do food, and although it does have a very nice deck area at the back, Donegal weather is rather against outdoor drinking outside of peak summer!

This is a nice pub, semi recently extensively renovated - there are photos of the premises before and during the renovation in the toilet lobby - and filled with historical artifacts. One display case contains the log book of the local midwife during the 1940s, another various receipts from the local co-op for hardware, and a further display had a programme for the towns former Ritz Cinema (a Donegal-wide chain in the 50s and 60s), the site of which is now partially used by The Bridge Inn which was visited in the previous attempt to cover the town.

Had it been slightly warmer I might have stayed a bit longer here, out on the deck rather than inside; but this was not a warm June in Donegal and I also needed food, so on to the next one...

Every? Pub In The Rosses

As anyone who follows my Instagram would see, I spend quite a bit of time, particularly in Summer but not solely, up in Donegal. More specifically, this is in The Rosses area of North West Donegal. And more specifically, on its one substantially populated offshore island; which does make touring around the rest of it a tad challenging.

But its always challenging to do pub ticking when driving for the obvious legality reason; and Locallink has been fully, or almost fully at least, rolled out in Donegal - bringing 6 or 8 buses on weekdays to villages that previously had a bus a week.

So I'm going to try tick off all the pubs in The Rosses as a side project to the main one - and it could yet take longer than finishing off Dublin.

I've already done the open premises in Dungloe and Arranmore, and ticked one off in Burtonport recently - not written up along with two of the Dungloe ones. But how many pubs actually are there here?

The Rosses have fairly defined barriers, but they don't map out to the licence register - so I've had to go pluck through it to try find the ones with in. A 1993 book I have here states there are 45 pubs in the area, but time has not been good to pub figures in rural Ireland - but I've tracked down 30 premises (and mapped some of the others that once were also, like for Dublin).

I am not even certain I've got all the pubs that exist on this map, let alone the rest of them; but here we are to start:

Every Pub In... Arranmore

Welcome to the second in a rare series where I try to document all the pubs somewhere in a single day. Having done (or failed to do, looking at it another way) Dungloe a few weeks ago when storms affected my weekend; this time I drove up rather than face Dublin Airport's security queues. And while driving and pub bagging are incompatible, I was able to park up and do this the next day - and drive home two days later!

Arranmore currently has six licenced premises. I have now drunk in all of them, but I can't document all in this post.

The first problematic premises is LEP015 Killeens Hotel - up for sale for some years, it is not currently trading. I last drank here in ~2016. If anyone wants to run a 24 bed hotel, please study the sale (or rent, as I now notice) documents. 

The second problematic premises is LEP431 Smugglers Nite Club. I also last drank here in ~2016, and would have gone back - except it rarely opens before midnight. There is a conventional bar (the Seaview Bar) attached to the club, but it has not opened regularly for decades (as far as I'm aware, but I have been in it); and I wasn't up for turning an afternoons drinking in to an exceptionally late night. 

This leaves me with four operating premises. When I was a kid, there was a seventh pub - Pallys - but it closed for good in 2002. There was another pub in the 60s/70s - Proctors - in the "factory" - a Gaeltarra Eireann facility in a former dance hall which still exists now as the community centre, sans licence.

[not sure] Neilys

My local up here. My Grandads local til he stopped being able to go to the pub (in ~2005). In the middle of the island, there was an adjoining shop here until Summer 2021 and this was where my interactions with it as a kid were. Neilys now manages to succesfully ride the line between being a locals pub most of the year, and the coolest place on the island when there's lots of tourists and holiday home owners in during the summer - cocktails, craft beer and a pizza van in summer give way to pints and football on Sky in the winter. I started and ended the days trip here - being closest to my house and on the way to and from anywhere else. 

Neilys appears on the licence registers as LEO002 - an off-licence code, and recorded as a spirits off licence; and I've never seen its pub licence recorded, but a pub it absolutely is so this is likely a Revenue issue - some Dublin pubs have been unlisted for years. Neilys is the most modern looking and feeling of any of the pubs and worth the walk in to the middle of the island.

1009262 Phil Bans 

The only pub I hadn't yet drunk in, despite often being in it as a kid - and always using its shop. Right on the beach near the ferry, I suspect that Phils gets the bulk of the lazier tourists, and is a decent pub despite never having fallen to my drinking patterns before. A larger front room is somewhat divided off from a back room that often matches the surface of the sun in air temperature - due to a turf fire - which has waves almost lapping against its windows at spring tides. Phil Bans shop fed my Irn Bru and McDaids Banana consumption as a child - I only took to Football Special as a teenager. 

For whatever historical reason, like Neilys the shop has its own spirits only off-licence with the fantastic licence number of LEO001 - Letterkenny court area, off-licence, licence number one

LEP014 The Glen Hotel

Paging Francis Brennan....   After nearly a century operating as a hotel, there is a need for significant investment in facilities and services here. Unbeatable beer garden when the weather suits, though.

LEP013 Earlys Pier Bar

The place that gave Daniel O'Donnell his start, and the only pub that consistently has food available all year (as of the time of posting this). We got a decent dinner here; and left just as a huge hen night arrived for theirs - thankfully. Jerry Early is very active in promoting the island for tourism; and supporting the remaining commercial fishermen, so this is the pub that most media people end up going to. With a small front bar and a large performance space out back, this pub is least like the others - which are all really single room affairs, albeit maybe big rooms (Neilys) or with a divider nearly splitting them (Phil Bans). Earlys has been modernised significantly in recent years, albeit not the level of Neilys

Every Pub in... Dungloe

Dungloe, Co. Donegal - Population 1164 in 2016 - is one of those towns that has - or had, really - A Lot Of Pubs. During my lifetime, I believe the peak was 12. I spent last weekend up there, and decided to try visit as many of them as I could, but closures and weather intervened significantly, with 5/6 being all I was able to do

Starting from the South end of the town, there are/were:

LEP079 (I think...) Patrick Johnny Sally - this was open pre-Lockdown but I'm not sure if it has opened since. 
LEP078 The Midway
LEP077 Teach Owenie Bán
The Central Bar - closed for quite some time
(can't find a number) Mulherns Corner Bar
LEP083 Beedys Bar - open recently, for sale.
Sweeneys Hotel - long closed and derelict; but currently under redevelopment
1006226 The Bridge Inn - rebuilt from near dereliction in 2011
LEP084 Atlantic Bar - currently closed and for rent according to signs in window
LEP073 McCaffertys (The Bayview until recently)
Braeside House / Forkers - closed for quite some time
LEP086 Waterfront Hotel (formerly Ostan na Rossan)

Expecting to get a few pubs in before dinner in the hotel, and a few after, I started at the furthest away point, with a pint in The Midway - a small guesthouse with a bar and restaurant. I can't actually remember much that stands out here, which is not a bad thing,

Crossing the road to Teach Owenie Bán brought us to the most traditional/rural of the pubs, albeit one with two pool tables and a number of fruit machines out the back. Signage outside advertises jiving classes, and signage both outside and in makes it clear this pubs football allegiances - to Liverpool. The Rosses is far less of a GAA-supporting area than most of rural Ireland, although their is still support for the GAA and an established club in Dungloe, so seeing this is not that unexpected.

The next open pub is Mulhern's Corner Bar, recently enough refurbished in to a very comfortable space. There is more obvious football club support here, this time for Celtic; 

The most recent "addition" to Dungloes bars - in that the building was nearly entirely replaced in early 2010s - is the Bridge Inn. There was a very run down pub of this name on this site before, with a "niteclub" in the basement, but what's there now is a very modern premises similar to any modern or modernised pub in any urban area. 

What is interesting is that all four of these premises, from the very traditional to the very modern, charged exactly the same prices. Which are low, by Dublin standards - 4.60 for a lager and 4.40 for a Smithwicks.

It was time to get out of the rain and get ready for dinner at this stage, so back to the Waterfront.

The hotel pricing was also relatively low by Dublin standards, albeit not quite as low. Bottled Kinnegar beers were 5.10, and it was these I finished my night with - as extremely squally weather had closed in, and there was zero chance that I was going to walk down to McCaffertys. I'll have to return to actually close off the town as "done", but I'd expect at least a few more premises to be open for the Summer tourist season anyway (Beedys, Sweeneys as soon as its ready, Patrick Johnny Sallys)