Category Archives: Articles

Vodka and Stout: Soviet Spies In Dublin Pubs.

Dublin, Ireland may not have ranked high in the cities of the world involved in Cold War intrigue prior to the fall of the Soviet Union. But a curious story involving the expulsion of Soviet embassy staff from Ireland in 1983 shows that Ireland was not exempt from spying and intelligence gathering by the USSR. […]

All you need to know about going to the pub right now. FAQ.

It has been brought to our attention that with the rapid shifting of timelines for the easing of lock down people are somewhat confused as to what guidelines have been laid out for pubs and patrons for the next 3 weeks and beyond. We’re going to do our best to address what you have to […]

Here’s how pubs will look inside when they reopen.

A number of pubs have been hard at work to make their environment as safe and compliant with the government’s new regulations as possible. For some, there’s some extra dividing screens added in, and for some, there’s little to no visible change at all. There are separate regulations for the distancing of either 1 metre […]

Front Door Portraits- An online exhibition showing shuttered pubs and the owners behind them.

Jules Furlong, a Dublin photographer and owner of Wild Soul Photography and Jules M Photography came up with an idea during lockdown to profile some of Dublin’s best known pubs with their owners standing outside to raise funds for Focus Ireland. Jules has set out over the last few months to create an online exhibition […]

Guinness back a booking system for pubs with free use for 6 months.

A lot of pubs will be confronted with the prospect of having to set up a booking system for the foreseeable future. It’s still unclear as to what the long term plans and guidelines are for pubs but it looks quite certain that those opening on the 29th of June will have to have pre-booking […]

They’re Back! Dublin Pubs Opening on 29th June.

Following a recent government announcement, pubs who serve food will now be able to open from the 29th of June. This means that pubs do not need to have a restaurant license to open and must be compliant with necessary social distancing measures. It does seem that these measures and the guidelines around them are […]

The 6 Best ‘Hardware’ Shops in Dublin

There’s loads of great hardware shops in Dublin. It just so happens that many of them are newly opened. Doheny and Nesbitt’s Hardware Shop Smashing nails here. Kehoe’s Hardware Shop Not the best at signage but they get the job done. Grogan’s Hardware Shop Specialising in garden furniture but they’ve got a whole range of […]

May the roast rise up to meet you.

Following on from a very successful launch and implementation of their local and then nationwide craft beer deliveries, 57 The Headline are delving further into something they know very well about. 57 The Headline on Clanbrassil Street will be known to lots of people in better times as a place to go for dozens of […]

Radiohead’s first gig was played in a Temple Bar Pub in 1993.

Radiohead have been keeping us entertained on Thursday evenings by streaming replays of concerts from the last few decades in Dublin, Berlin, and Buenos Aires. It got us thinking that we remembered hearing a reference to Radiohead having played their first ever gig in a city centre Dublin pub in 1993. After a bit of […]

Pubs that mimic the iconic Guinness Gates.

We’ve noticed a few pubs around town paying tribute to pints of the black stuff through their own painting and design inside and outside pubs. It’s frequent for pubs to have old Guinness paraphernalia, but a few have gone a little further by creating depicitions of the iconic gates to James’ Gate Brewery, The Bankers […]

When do pubs open and what do they open to?

The Dublin pub trade yesterday saw cause for alarm when Minister for Health, Simon Harris, stated in an interview with the Sunday Independent that without a vaccine pubs would not be open in the same way in which we’re used to. It’s important to read between the lines of the comment. It reads: “So I […]

3 Irish pubs that were packed up and shipped abroad.

Creating a true Irish identity in one of the thousands of Irish pubs around the world is a difficult thing to do, but we’ve found 3 that took the rather extreme option of packing up an existing pub and shipping it across Europe, Africa, and America to make people feel right at home. Bubbles O’Leary’s. […]

Frank Quinn, owner of Toner’s, The Waterloo, The 51, and Lansdowne Hotel has passed away.

We’re very saddened to hear of the passing of Frank Quinn, who with his brother Mick owned and operated Toner’s on Baggot Street, The 51 Haddington Road, The Lansdowne Hotel and The Waterloo, both on Baggot Street. While you may not personally know Frank, you’ve likely drank in one of his pubs, which are some […]

That first pint on Good Friday (and first pints to come).

2 years ago I organised it with Hugh Hourican of The Boars Head pub on Capel Street that I’d be the first person in Ireland to have a (legal) pint in Ireland on Good Friday following the reversal of the prohibition of selling alcohol on the day that stood for 90 years. That seems an […]

Taste the pub at home: Pubs doing food and drinks delivery/take out in Dublin.

A number of pubs have decided to try to remain as active as they can by offering drink and food delivery and collection services. Obviously this isn’t possible for everyone, but some pubs have decided that they’d like to keep busy while all of this is going on. Here’s a list of options available to […]

When pubs saved the economy.

One of our favourite stories about the adaptability of the Irish pub and it’s centrality to Irish commercial and community life comes from 1970. A strike among workers in Irish banks threatened to make the processing of cheques, payment of wages, and carrying of cash a very difficult affair. The strike, much like the near […]