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...

S0399 Wishing Well

In comparison to the previous pub, it was exceptionally clear that only one sport was important here; that being rugby; possibly more of a religion than a sport for the people of Blackrock. The pub was rather busy, but I managed to find a table in a corner that had been left empty due to having a shockingly poor view of any of the screens; and as I'm not from Leinster I didn't really care about the match in the first place.

This pub was once overshadowed by its bigger, brasher, and very expensive (the pub, that is - it once sold for €8.1m) Playwright around the corner; but that has now devolved in to being a Dunnes Stores outlet; leaving this as the areas only pub.

A fairly standard modern suburban pub all in, in good condition with a strong focus on food. An interesting item within the pub is their timeline of the affects of the pandemic on the operation of the pub, featured prominently at the end of the bar

Wishing Well in Blackrock chronicles the ~21 months of pandemic disruptions. Other than some remaining signs and stickers, and the odd partition there isn't much obvious left of that era inside pubs. Outside, improved seating areas are the legacy; and a few pubs still closed. pic.twitter.com/bZoY8AXQOm

— Cian Duffy (@cian_duffy) May 25, 2024

RetroReview: S0201 Bleeding Horse

The eventual outcomes of the nights started here could fill a book - a particularly boring book, with one or two exceptions, but a book nonetheless. As this is where I generally started any nights out in S3032 Tripod (part of the Pod complex); which was the main venue for "big" trance nights in mid-late 00s Dublin; most of which I attended.

Like a lot of frequent visit pubs, this means a fairly short writeup - one thing I do remember is trying and failing to convince a friend from Belfast that the large backlit "paintings" of Arthur Guinness with wooden frames up in a few places in the pub were actually sideways mounted flat screen TVs (they were) and that occasionally, the "painting" would wink at you (it would) - I wasn't vindicated until the next time I met her and she revealed that she'd seen one somewhere else since.

Ah, to be young again...

S0402 The Grange

This trip co-incided with a particularly busy/messy (depending on perspective, location, and potentially results) day of sporting fixtures, with the rugby Champions Cup final, the FA Cup final and the Scottish Cup final all vying for pub TV capacity; along with racing, golf and other weekend regulars.

This can often cause friction in pubs as people ask for specific events to be shown on the TV they can see; but The Grange had decided to avoid all of this by clearly designating the TVs in advance

The Grange is having no shit about changing TVs to a different one of the three big sporting events on today pic.twitter.com/ddr5o6U4LT

— Cian Duffy (@cian_duffy) May 25, 2024

 

This was a slightly more traditional pub than I was expecting for some reason; with more TVs dedicated to the football options, and a rake of newspaper clippings on the wall. There's a major food focus, as is now the norm in suburbia.

RetroReview: S0200 Ryans

I had just sat down here with my pint when I got a frantic phonecall asking me where I was - I was due to turn up at a 30th birthday party a bit down the road in about an hour; or so I thought.

It had been moved forward by an hour, and everyone assumed that someone else had told me - it was my best mates birthday, I'd end up being the best man at his wedding within the same year, it was assumed I knew what was going on. But for once, I didn't

My pint, and half of my partners, knocked and legged out the door to the restaurant, which was nearby (hence why coming in here), thankfully.

S0406 Bakers Corner

There was a slight last-chance-to-see element to planning the ticking trip to this pub; as the premises is currently for sale with full planning permission for a student accommodation development. 

And indeed I was slightly worried I'd missed it, as their social media hadn't been updated in a few weeks. This feeling got stronger when I arrived and couldn't find a door in to the pub - the actual corner section of Bakers Corner had all doors locked; but I could see the lights in the taps were on at least.

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The pubs adjacent off-licence was open; and inside I was told that the corner doors hadn't been used in quite some time and that the pub was indeed open - you now enter through the carpark. Or through the off-licence, should you so wish, as it has a door through.

As for when it will close - I've no idea. I'm sure we'll hear about it, as its quite well known; but the pub website seems to be more up to date than any social media channels for once - it has June 2024 live music listings, so only a few days out of date at time of writing.

The impending closure of the pub will extend what's already a bit of a growing pub graveyard - the Rose Park Hotel across the road closed in the 2000s, the Farmhouse Inn in Monsktown Farm in the 2010s; and heading South East, The Thatch and The Deerhunter are both also gone in recent decades.

However, the planning for the new development does include a replacement pub. From experience, only about two thirds of these actually ever come to fruition - we are still awaiting any development of a new S1709 Belgard Inn for instance - but the market already exists for this pub, and 276 students living upstairs can only provide a bit more demand.

RetroReview: S0164 Horse Show House

I was served here underage (by weeks, not that that changes the law). 

In a school uniform.

During the Young Scientist, which was directly across the road.

Now, I've been the same abnormally tall height since I was ~13; and I've been able to grow a full beard since about the same age - not that I do - so was rarely asked for ID anywhere. But this is still a rather unusual occurrence. They weren't the only pub in Ballsbridge to serve me, but at least Bellamys (now The Bridge 1859) served me in jeans and a hoody, not a school uniform.

Its also almost two decades ago; so I doubt is a reflection on the place as it is now; but I've not been back since.