The Western Star

Foxhound38

Returned to Cork last weekend after an absense of years only to find my once favorite bar from college has been knocked down! The Western Star on the Western Road used to be hopping every night as I remember it, what happened to it?

star.chaser

Foxhound38 wrote: »

Returned to Cork last weekend after an absense of years only to find my once favorite bar from college has been knocked down! The Western Star on the Western Road used to be hopping every night as I remember it, what happened to it?

i don't know

deRanged

it was sold off and knocked to make a financial services centre. this didn't happen, so it's just an empty site now.

Foxhound38

deRanged wrote: »

it was sold off and knocked to make a financial services centre. this didn't happen, so it's just an empty site now.

That's an awful shame, it was a great bar. I'd say the UCC social life is quite different now without it!

Wasn't overly busy before it shut anyway, was out of work for 3 months 3 years ago (happy days) and so was a buddy, we went in there a few Thursday nights, very very quite.

deRanged

it's probably a good thing (for me), seeing as I now work 100 yards from the site.

Oafley Jones

RoverJames wrote: »

Wasn't overly busy before it shut anyway, was out of work for 3 months 3 years ago (happy days) and so was a buddy, we went in there a few Thursday nights, very very quite.

It's gone a while now, but ya it was pretty much abandoned by the students a few years before shutting.

Miaireland

It has been gone for a few years now. I most confess that I rarely went there but have very happy memories of sitting in the garden the day I finished the masters.


I am surprised that the site has not been built on given the that it is near the Bons and the Cork Clinic.

Moro Man

Oafley Jones wrote: »

It's gone a while now, but ya it was pretty much abandoned by the students a few years before shutting.

Yeah the minute they renovated it and tried to turn it into some kind of Mini-Reardens the students decided **** it lets just go to Reardens :eek:

How smart was that?

The turnover that place use to get during exam time was staggering. It would keep most bars in the City ( not to mind a small bar like that ) going for a year.

JohnMearsheimer

I went there a lot when I was in first year but after that I only went there during rag week. Anyone remember the mechanical rodeo bull down the back in Paddy Bans (I think that's what the back part was called)?

babo9

Ahhh good times, that place was so packed in first year (04) and so easy going, dancing on tables was the norm
But ya for some reason towards the end of 2nd year it started to die down, they even started running poker tournaments on tuesday/wednesday night to make some business, even those only attracted 20 ppl max! Closing down seemed unavoidable...

Stark

Where did people start going if they stopped going to the Star? I remember the Old bar was quite nice but didn't have that much capacity, whereas the New bar was lifeless.

Trashbat

The problem with the Star is that they really got ahead of themselves in terms of their status as a "famous" UCC bar. They were charging City Centre Prices and serving terrible Pints in plastic glasses. Maybe if they'd have managed a late licences (although probably too residential an area) they could have justified it, but in reality it just became a bad rip off pub.

Like alot of other pubs in cork really, but without the location to get away with it.

No great loss tbh

Stark

That sucks. At least they had the decency to serve us pints in proper glasses when I was in UCC. Was a lot nicer than "The Dirty Squalor" anyway.

themonboys

There's something about that name, the Northern,Eastern and Western Stars all close, only the Southern left.

Kold

I absolutely hated the sh*thole.

440Hz

It was great back in the day before they revamped it! It was always jammed when I was in college, every single night of the week. Real example of "if it ain't broke don't fix it" - they should have kept it the way it was!

corkcomp

440Hz wrote: »

It was great back in the day before they revamped it! It was always jammed when I was in college, every single night of the week. Real example of "if it ain't broke don't fix it" - they should have kept it the way it was!

+1 .. I remember being outside in the outdoor place years ago, and it would take a good 10 minutes to squeeze out to the front door if the place was packed

foxyboxer

It's where I had my first pint (Budweiser) in 1998. So it will always have a place in my heart.

I wasn't a fan of the re-vamp either. It was fine the way it was as others have mentioned. It was a classic irish pub with the bar in the centre kind of like how the Bailey was before it's revamp.

chakotha

I watched the Ireland v Romania penalty shootout there in a marquee out the back of the pub. What a buzz that night was! Was just after finishing my last exam and off to London the next day.

deRanged

unfortunately I don't have a photo of what it used look like, but this is the site now.



I got blind drunk in there one night and ruined my chances with the then love of my life by getting off with her mate. good times

forzacalcio

chakotha wrote: »

I watched the Ireland v Romania penalty shootout there in a marquee out the back of the pub. What a buzz that night was! Was just after finishing my last exam and off to London the next day.

Any update on whats happening with this site?
Was in the marquee out the back for that game too. Random

rebel.ranter

Just before Monty sold it:



Much better in the mid 90's before all that extension business out the back.

forzacalcio

rebel.ranter wrote: »

Just before Monty sold it:



Much better in the mid 90's before all that extension business out the back.

Extension went in back in 1989 just before World Cup. Well I mean the old extension, not sure if it was done up even more post 1995.

EDIT: Sorry I see what you mean by the Yellow extension, the first one was just turned into a garden pub back in 89. Was a store room first I think.