The first suburban outpost of the Cassidys/PMacs group, Blackbird opened in 2014 in the former Rathmines Inn (and its many other names past names). I believe there had been a relatively quick turnover of tenants here before, but Blackbird is there for a fairly long time now.
If you've been to any of their other pubs, you know what you're going to get - a dark interior, drippy red candles on every table as the decor; their house beer - Trouble Vietnow on tap, and Refresher bars on the bar. I didn't see any Monster Munch, but it may have been a little early in the day for that, but the pizza ovens that most of their pubs have are present should you want to buy something more substantial.
There's TVs and a small set of Diageo taps, which both seem a little out of place in an otherwise craft beer bar, but are probably a concession to the suburban location more than anything else. The original PMacs on Stephen Street also has the Diageo products, but it is the bar of a hotel where there may be tourists fully expecting to be able to drink Guinness.
It's quite a big pub, with a few different areas within and a large smoking area to the side. Its a nice pub to enjoy a few pints (from the large menu) in and has convenient bus stops for your trip back, should you not be rich enough to live in Rathmines.
Thursday, 28 February 2019
Wednesday, 27 February 2019
S0240 Martin B Slattery's
There's a seen-as-definitive list of "Dublin's Victorian Pubs" that circulates the internet, having been produced by Kevin C Kearns in his 1996 book Dublin Pub Life and Lore. That is of course the book probably now best known for The Pintman, rather than its extensive oral history, researched in person by the author over many years.
Its not available in print currently, only on Kindle - and is worth buying for the historical content, but there are no photos in the Kindle edition so if you were just intending on reading it for the Pintman, go to a library instead.
I'm not sure whether Slatterys in Rathmines is excluded from this list by age, for any issues with authenticity, or a simple oversight. It doesn't seem to be built by the 1892 Thoms Directory, the adjacent Belfast Bank building is dated to 1901 but the entire area appears to be built up by then so it may be age.
However, it doesn't seem to fall down on authenticity. Solid wood and glass interior fittings include a proper snug, with access to the bar. There is a TV (muted), and there is background music (low) but even the Long Hall has a TV for occasional use so these alone don't exclude a pub from Victorian-ness.
There was a smaller crowd in here than Grace's, yet the more traditional atmosphere made it a generally nicer place to have a pint.
Its not available in print currently, only on Kindle - and is worth buying for the historical content, but there are no photos in the Kindle edition so if you were just intending on reading it for the Pintman, go to a library instead.
I'm not sure whether Slatterys in Rathmines is excluded from this list by age, for any issues with authenticity, or a simple oversight. It doesn't seem to be built by the 1892 Thoms Directory, the adjacent Belfast Bank building is dated to 1901 but the entire area appears to be built up by then so it may be age.
However, it doesn't seem to fall down on authenticity. Solid wood and glass interior fittings include a proper snug, with access to the bar. There is a TV (muted), and there is background music (low) but even the Long Hall has a TV for occasional use so these alone don't exclude a pub from Victorian-ness.
There was a smaller crowd in here than Grace's, yet the more traditional atmosphere made it a generally nicer place to have a pint.
Monday, 25 February 2019
S0241 Graces
A large and traditional pub in the original village of Rathmines, Graces hit the headlines last year in a defamation case over a disputed authenticity banknote but was more generally known for its live music.
Oddly quiet - in the sonic sense, there were plenty of customers - the pub is slightly like stepping in to the past. Nowhere near as much as, say, S0024 Hartigans but there's a certain feel of it being 1993 still. One part of this is that they had the once common poster of 60 or so Dublin pub fronts on the wall, which I need to get a better copy of to do a piece on at some point.
The outside of the pub could do with a full re-paint, as could their wooden sandwich boards which were in the lobby - although one of them still has mention of the New Years Eve entertainment so may not be in heavy use!
Oddly quiet - in the sonic sense, there were plenty of customers - the pub is slightly like stepping in to the past. Nowhere near as much as, say, S0024 Hartigans but there's a certain feel of it being 1993 still. One part of this is that they had the once common poster of 60 or so Dublin pub fronts on the wall, which I need to get a better copy of to do a piece on at some point.
The outside of the pub could do with a full re-paint, as could their wooden sandwich boards which were in the lobby - although one of them still has mention of the New Years Eve entertainment so may not be in heavy use!
N0076 The Berkeley
A surprisingly large inner-suburban pub just slightly out of the way on the corner of Wellington and Mountjoy Streets.
We were heading towards a game in Dalymount and stood outside eating a greasy meal from Midnight Express on Dorset Street before heading in. We possibly didn't need to eat it outside, as it turned out that there was an entire table of people inside eating food likely from the same chipper!
The pub seems nice enough, although the handwritten warning sign in the toilets about dire consequences for drug consumption may give the wrong impression to some. It's possibly - just possibly - far enough off Dorset Street to be viable on a Croke Park match day also.
We were heading towards a game in Dalymount and stood outside eating a greasy meal from Midnight Express on Dorset Street before heading in. We possibly didn't need to eat it outside, as it turned out that there was an entire table of people inside eating food likely from the same chipper!
The pub seems nice enough, although the handwritten warning sign in the toilets about dire consequences for drug consumption may give the wrong impression to some. It's possibly - just possibly - far enough off Dorset Street to be viable on a Croke Park match day also.
N0099 The Big Romance
Having changed names more times than most in recent years, The Big Romance has been operating as a vinyl-only music driven craft beer bar for a few months now. Larger than you'd expect from the front - it is quite long and L-shaped - it is quite similar to many other craft bars in Dublin until you come to the sound system.
A single turntable drives the audio at the bar up front, with frequent gaps in the music as records have to be flipped or changed. Down the back, huge speakers are either side of a twin-deck setup for DJs, without a CD player in sight.
Its a decent pub, but the history of the premises interests me more here. The tenants and operation of this pub have changed with the times and trade on Parnell Street in a manner not really seen anywhere else.
Like other city centre pubs, this was originally a traditional Dub pub; run for a long time by the hurler Mick Bermingham. By the late 1990s, it had become Murky Blues, known for its live music sessions - something Parnell Street is still known for down the road at N0906 Fibber McGees
Moving in to the mid 2000s, with the expansion of the European Union to 25 members in 2004, Ireland received significant amounts of Polish migrants, leading to Zagloba operating from the premises. The Irish Times visited during a Poland game in the 2006 World Cup. Parnell Street also had a Nigerian bar - Forum, now an off-licence - across the road during this era, and still retains a Korean bar - N0107 Hophouse - to this day. Of course, the street is being proposed as Dublin's Chinatown and there was then also a Chinese bar - Ice Bar - in what was the Blue Lion a few doors down; but I digress...
From the end of the Tiger era until a few years ago, it was back to being a locals pub, emphasising GAA connections as the Dublin Supporters Bar; with a late rebrand to The Dubliner.
The most recent previous incarnation served a newer migration trend - that of Brazilians. The Luggage Room - what else do you need to find first when arriving in a new city? - is described as hosting student nights in the Come Here To Me! piece on the building; a staple of bars near DIT Cathal Brugha Street for years but which may come to an end when the now TUD faculties move to Grangegorman next year.
A single turntable drives the audio at the bar up front, with frequent gaps in the music as records have to be flipped or changed. Down the back, huge speakers are either side of a twin-deck setup for DJs, without a CD player in sight.
Its a decent pub, but the history of the premises interests me more here. The tenants and operation of this pub have changed with the times and trade on Parnell Street in a manner not really seen anywhere else.
Like other city centre pubs, this was originally a traditional Dub pub; run for a long time by the hurler Mick Bermingham. By the late 1990s, it had become Murky Blues, known for its live music sessions - something Parnell Street is still known for down the road at N0906 Fibber McGees
Moving in to the mid 2000s, with the expansion of the European Union to 25 members in 2004, Ireland received significant amounts of Polish migrants, leading to Zagloba operating from the premises. The Irish Times visited during a Poland game in the 2006 World Cup. Parnell Street also had a Nigerian bar - Forum, now an off-licence - across the road during this era, and still retains a Korean bar - N0107 Hophouse - to this day. Of course, the street is being proposed as Dublin's Chinatown and there was then also a Chinese bar - Ice Bar - in what was the Blue Lion a few doors down; but I digress...
From the end of the Tiger era until a few years ago, it was back to being a locals pub, emphasising GAA connections as the Dublin Supporters Bar; with a late rebrand to The Dubliner.
The most recent previous incarnation served a newer migration trend - that of Brazilians. The Luggage Room - what else do you need to find first when arriving in a new city? - is described as hosting student nights in the Come Here To Me! piece on the building; a staple of bars near DIT Cathal Brugha Street for years but which may come to an end when the now TUD faculties move to Grangegorman next year.
Friday, 8 February 2019
February 2019 licence update
Very little change this month, just two additions - from the same overall group at that
1014989 Isabelles - new restaurant-pub directly opposite 1004917 Lemon & Duke on Royal Hibernian Way
1015031 Union Cafe, Beacon Shopping Centre - another addition to this chain
1014989 Isabelles - new restaurant-pub directly opposite 1004917 Lemon & Duke on Royal Hibernian Way
1015031 Union Cafe, Beacon Shopping Centre - another addition to this chain
Monday, 4 February 2019
N1984 The Lord Lucan
The last of my driver-assisted pubs, this was a swapout for the Wrens Nest which I had vaguely hoped might have opened for the rugby. It didn't - I shall return on some Sunday either with another wangled driver or for a single whiskey under my own steam. So we went here, which is not a particularly easy bus journey to organise from where I live and with nothing else around it to justiy the trip.
Situated some distance south of Lucan village, in the shopping centre for Finnstown, this is an absolutely vast single story warehouse of a pub. Its like most generic suburban pubs, but about four times larger.
It also has square toilets - well, cubic.
If you live in the area, there's little else around but also nothing wrong with the pub. If you don't live in the area there's really no reason to go here. There's a DHL collection locker in the Spar a few doors up which is more of a draw!
Situated some distance south of Lucan village, in the shopping centre for Finnstown, this is an absolutely vast single story warehouse of a pub. Its like most generic suburban pubs, but about four times larger.
It also has square toilets - well, cubic.
If you live in the area, there's little else around but also nothing wrong with the pub. If you don't live in the area there's really no reason to go here. There's a DHL collection locker in the Spar a few doors up which is more of a draw!
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