N0127 The Yacht

This pub is very posh. Probably too posh actually - I got odd feelings of having stepped back in to 2007. Nothing actually wrong with that, of course - and it is in a posh area. It has had a recent refurbishment that likely had no expense spared on it and which the owners seem very proud of on their website.

I hadn't intended to do another pub on this trip, but having just had dinner I realised that I had about a fairly substantial amount of time to kill before a bus. So I dropped in for a quick pint here - I will still need to return to the area as I missed Harry Byrne's, but I may as well not waste the opportunity.

I found myself in a conversation with a regular who wanted to know if a boxing match was on that evening - which I had to check online for him as I wouldn't have a clue normally. My initial perception of the pub as posh was confirmed when we ended up discussing local politicians - as you do - and he stated that Tommy Broughan TD would "never be seen here, its too posh". Said regular considered himself similar politically to Broughan but had no such issues drinking there!

N0128 Connollys The Sheds

A medium-sized pub with the recent addition small theatre upstairs, The Sheds claims to date to 1845 and the name refers to an old name for the seaside part of Clontarf back in the days when it was a fishing village. 

I was probably too distracted trying to figure out where to get dinner (it ended up being Beshoffs, eaten in a gale on the seafront the way nature intended) to actually pay much attention to the pub but nothing negative came to my attention anyway.

N1344 & 1007331 Pebble Beach

This is a very rare two-for-one - Pebble Beach in Clontarf still retains two seperate licences for the same premises; one pub and one theatre. This was common during the mid 2000s as the theatre licence allowed later openings but required a "performance"; the pub licence did not require this so could be used to normal opening times. There were about 40 premises with both and only about 5 still retaining them now.

A little bit up a suburban road beside Clontarf bus garage, this is probably as close to a golf clubhouse you're going to get off a golf course. Packed with golf memorabilia and with the "golf course special" of Guinness Mid-Strength on offer, it is even named after a famed US golf course according to its website

Mid-Strength isn't available in many places - I had never noticed it on offer in the previous 350+ pubs in Dublin. I actually think the last time I saw it was in a restaurant/bar off the N4 in Westmeath when it was originally released, and as I was driving. for work, in a branded uniform and vehicle, I was not in any position to try it. So I tried it now.

I can't tell the difference between it and "normal" Guinness. At 2.8% about 1/3rd less alcohol than the original, which isn't as big a drop as between some "families" of beer - McGargles Little Bangin and Big Bangin are 3.8% and 7.1% for instance; but many traditional Guinness drinkers would have you believe that any reduction would make it undrinkable. Which is of course nonsense, as "normal" Guinness has been reduced in strength repeatedly for decades - read through some of the posts on Ronald Pattinsons excellent blog to see the strength at various points past.

There are dedicated beer bloggers, so I shall return to the pub. It's fairly decent, without some of the nastiness that a pub in an area that could be seen as posh can end up with.

N0136 Kavanaghs Marino House

Sometimes I have a specific plan for pubs to hit on a certain day, as I did on the day I visited Kavanaghs. However, I'd forgotten to charge my phone so needed somewhere with a socket so I could check the bus times to go to my planned next pub. Kavanaghs it was then...

This is quite a nice pub. Very much a Dub pub - there is a crystal, probably quarter-size replica of the Sam Maguire behind the bar in the lounge, apparently dating to the 1995 victory.

Every pub was relatively quiet that day - possibly many locals were still a bit tender from the All Ireland win the week before, and Kavanaghs was no exception. The socket was behind the bar and I only had a very short charger with me which resulted in my sitting almost on the bar rather than at it.

Two pints and the bulk of the remainder of my papers later and I had sufficient battery to head on to my original target

N0134 Gaffneys

There were once two Gaffneys pubs in Fairview - the larger, remaining pub and a significantly smaller one a few doors down - which still had some signage until very recently. This smaller pub ran as "Gaffneys Snug" or "Gaffneys Wine Lodge". I'm unsure as to exactly when this closed; it was still listed in Thom's Directory as late as 2008, but it could be quite slow at removing closed premises.

Anyway, there's no pints to be had in the closed pub but there still is in the main one. A large enough premises, I couldn't tell which side was the bar and which the lounge from outside and ended up picking the bar door at random. 

A small sort-of snug, complete that afternoon with someone talking to himself, meets you immediately. It's not the most useful snug when everyone coming and going walks past you, but it is separated from the main bar area. A small enough bar is behind this, with a sort-of lounge behind it. The main lounge is accessible from here as well as from the street.

The pub was relatively quiet  and I was able to get a table to read the paper at while having my pint. The bar has a reasonable selection of draught from multiple suppliers - Franciscan Well and O'Haras as well as the usuals - and four Guinness taps, which suggests that it does get a lot busier at times. 

Seems to be a decent pub anyway. When marking off on my records later, I realised that this was pub #350 as it currently stands. I did actually reach 350 separate premises a few pubs ago, but with some licences removed from the register (Dandelion, The Vaults, Browns Barn) they no longer "count".

N0135 Brú House

This traditional inner-suburban pub was most recently known as Smyths of Fairview, and after a brief closure reopened a few years ago as Brú House Fairview

Brú are one of the longer-running Irish microbreweries and have one other pub, in Newbridge. I'm not personally a huge fan of their products - very much a personal taste thing, they are of perfectly fine quality; and they don't sell much else here. So despite working nearby for two years I never actually dropped in - but now, not working quite as near, I decided to hit the Howth Road area on a quiet afternoon.

Other than the all-Irish, all-micro tap lineup (Brú's full product range, a cider I can't remember and Yellowbelly Citra IPA), this is basically what you'd expect from any other pub in a similar area. Pub grub with only minor differences to the norm, Sky Sports on offer in the bar and a large lounge area to the rear. I had a late lunch and tried their new Session IPA and Dark IPA which are, again, perfectly fine but just not quite to my tastes. All Brú pints are very good value at €4.50 or €5 and were the cheapest pints I saw anywhere all day.

It's a nice enough environment to spend some time, but would appeal massively more to someone who's a fan of Brú's beers.

September 2018 Licence Update

Another small update this month.

Additions:
1014482 Maldron Hotel Kevin Street

There are some interesting renames of the licence owner for a few closed premises that may indicate a reopening in the future (or one that I entirely missed) - namely the former South in Beacon South Quarter and the Corner House in Windy Arbour.