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.

N0354 O'Dwyers Golf Links Inn

Just before going in here, I was told on Twitter that it has a local nickname - The Widows - and that under no circumstances am I to accidentally say it to any of the members of staff.

There was one member of staff who did seem a bit frosty (the titular Widow perhaps) but otherwise, all fine and I didn't let my tongue slip.

A 60s pub, possibly the first in the village - outer areas of Dublin are very hard to trace the pub history of, so I wouldn't be surprised if there had been other pubs that have since closed - O'Dwyers has been recently renovated and has a very large restaurant area alongside the main bar areas.

I had dinner here, and due to what I found out was an error rather than a food choice, was served a gravy boat of actual gravy with my burger and chips. And extremely good gravy it was too - presumably made with the juices from the carvery joints - but it was meant to be pepper sauce. I'm not sure if I'd have preferred it to have been a bold new frontier in taste.

I managed to leave a hoody behind here, one I wore a lot, but which was very much starting to show its age. Not worth going back for it, considering Portmarnock is actually a bit of a pain to get to; I've bought its replacement now - so for the next three years or so my pints ticking hoody will be light grey, not black-increasingly-fading-to-dark grey.

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!

October 2024 licence register & year-on-year

Close to nothing of interest in this months Revenue list itself:

Renumberings:

1021414 - Blue Bar, Skerries - formerly DG1127 (always a pity to see an oddity like a Dublin-located but Drogheda licence court number get replaced by the new system!)

However, this is the October list, so it's time to process the year-on-year changes, edit my spreadsheets - and suffer the hit in completion rate this always brings, as places I've visited drop off the register after closure. Some come back, of course.

Prior to the annual trim, my register was 1021 premises - 812 visited, 46 marked as some form of impossible and the rest pending a visit. Impossible means its either shut, or cannot be accessed without staying in a hotel, booking a ferry or a flight, etc.

Removed from my register due to non renewal for this year, are:

1003216 - National Library of Ireland. I believe the cafe is not current open. Not visited.
1009609 - Finnstown Castle Hotel, Lucan. Closed. Not visited.
1019163 - Twin Oaks, Castleknock. Closed in May. Visited.
N0029 - Goya Lounge (former Strand House), North Strand. Not visited.
N0062 - T O'Brennans, Dominick Street. Closed. Visited.
N1638 - Cardiff Inn, Finglas. Closed. Not visited.
S0178 - Kielys of Donnybrook. Demolished. Not visited
S0252 - Lamb Doyles, Sandyford. Closed. Not visited.
S0285 - Ramblers Rest, Ballybrack. Closed. Not visited.
S0836 - Hampton Hotel, Morehampton Road. Closed. Visited.
S1526 - Rosie O'Gradys, Harolds Cross. Demolished. Not visited.
S2410 - Furry Bog, Whitechurch. Closed. Not visited.

In addition, sometimes I ignore a pub being missing in the end of year list as I know, or assume, its still open. But checking against two years lists sometimes makes a quiet closure or change of status obvious. Removals due to this are:

1015429 - former Barts/Eden, South William Street. Replacement premises (Saba) holds restaurant licence only. Visited.
N0005 - O'Sheas, Talbot Street. Has only opened on about five days since 2020, recent planning appears to remove most or all of the bar. Visited.
N0022 - Hill 16, Gardiner Street. Has actually opened as recently as a year ago, but closed and not renewed this year. Visited.
N0197 - Soup2, North King Street. May reopen as something new soon. Visited.
N0305 - The Estuary, Swords. Closed, up for sale. Not visited.
N1195 - Clifton Court Hotel, Eden Quay. Closed, up for sale. Visited.
N2354 - 12th Lock Hotel, Castleknock. Closed. Visited.
N2538 - Jack O'Neills, Tyrrellstown. Long closed, only relisted briefly to sell the licence. Not visited.
N2649 - Movies@Swords. Cinema open, website no longer mentions bar. Not visited.
S4288 - Movies@Dundrum. Cinema open, website no longer mentions bar. Not visited (well, I've seen movies here - but never drank here)
S4542 - The Globe/RíRa, Georges Street - Theatre Licence only. Still has a Publicans licence, even though the bar is currently closed for redevelopment.

I also found that 1014863 The Yacht in Clontarf was on my list twice due to multiple licence number changes; and that N1099 Biddy Mulligans, Sackville Place had not been returned to the list when it reopened.

End result - a ridiculously perfect 1000 on the register - for now! - 803 visited, 37 impossibles; 160 pending.

N0319 Portmarnock Hotel

This bar was near impossible to get in to. Not in a "not tonight" way, but in a "does not have a street entrance" way - you really need to drive to get in here; but you can enter one of the carparks from the beach pathway that runs near the hotel, and walk in from there.

The bar is very much a normal hotel bar, and has some signs of a golf club bar as well (which it basically is) - lots and lots of zero options available on draught.

It was still a nice night, and there's a range of outdoor seating options here; so I sat out - there did seem to be very few seats available inside.

One minorly humorous occurrence here was the barman being unable to find the card reader when I ordered - I suspect a lot of people order on their room and they may not need multiple units. I had cash, though, so didn't have to leave him hunting.

RetroReview: S3250 Nyx Christchurch (as Arlington Hotel)

I visited this premises one rebuild and two rebrand ago - when it was the Arlington Hotel (yes, there were two Arlington Hotels, owned by the same person at the time) and it still had a nightclub - Copper Alley.

But virtually nobody ever knew what the nightclub was called, and it was best known as the long term (and I believe) original home of the gay clubnight Mother; the only thing I was ever aware of ever being held there.

Since those visits - there were many - the hotel rebranded as the Parliament; then shut for a refurb and reopened as the Hard Rock Hotel, then rebranded to Nyx. It has been about 15 years, but that's quite the set of changes for one hotel.