You might not say that McGowan’s is a very traditional pub these days, catering as it does to hundreds of people every night on a late night basis. However, we have found a photo of the premises from the 50s from when it was a more modest location to imbibe and socialise.
In the book ‘Where to drink’, a 1948 guide to Dublin pubs, the premises at 18 Phibsboro road is listed as ‘Cooney’s pub’. The book has a foreword from Myles na gCopaleen.
The listing gives the proprietor as Eamonn Cooney and the phone number as 73292. There has been a pub on this site since 1860.
It might surprise you to learn that McGowan’s in Phibsboro is a family pub. Meaning, that it is owned and operated by the McGowan family. There’s a shrinking number of pubs that are run in this traditional manner.It certainly seems to be a pub that has the ability to change with the times and reinvent itself.
