Limerick's oldest pub?

IsaacWunder

Does anyone know what is Limerick's oldest watering hole?

My money is on the Locke Bar which opened in 1724.

sioda

Katy Dalys me thinks

Icky Thump

the locke is only opened about 20 years. the site however is home to one of limericks oldest pubs. but not THE oldest pub.

either way the locke cant be considered because it wasnt the locke

durty nells was opened in 1620 but thats not the city obviously

IsaacWunder

Icky Thump wrote: »

the locke is only opened about 20 years. the site however is home to one of limericks oldest pubs. but not THE oldest pub.

either way the locke cant be considered because it wasnt the locke

Why not? Ireland's oldest pub, according to the Guinness Book of Records, is Sean's Bar in Athlone (which dates from some time in the 9th century) but noone knows what it was called originally, only that it was a pub on that site.

Icky Thump

i thought that it would at least to have been run by the same family to be considered the same place. or istance if i bought the oldest pub in ireland. knocked it down and built a shop. then 10 years later knocked it down and built a pub. would that be the oldest pub in ireland still??

fair enough. anyways i guess it still would be one of the oldest

savagecabbages

J.J. Bowls in Thomond Gate. Someone once told me this was the oldest pub in Limerick.

Est. 1794. Looks like the building itself is pretty old

Insect Overlord

I thought the Brazen Head was around since the 1600s?

timesnewroman

I would have thought Teds - always full of coffin dodgers and geriatrics.:D

fran38

Icky Thump wrote: »

the locke is only opened about 20 years. the site however is home to one of limericks oldest pubs. but not THE oldest pub.

either way the locke cant be considered because it wasnt the locke

durty nells was opened in 1620 but thats not the city obviously

I've been going into the Locke on and off since 1987 and it has been open a lot longer before then. It was extended in the early 90's though.

Flincher

I was in the Locke recently for the first time in ages. Did they move the stairs from the pub up to the restaurant? I knew something was different, and it was only when I got home I thought that was what they had done.

On topic, I know the Curragower claims to date back to the late 18th century, so it is probably one of the oldest.

EDIT: Did a google search and game across this.

savagecabbages

That'd be it settled then!

....If the corner building hadn't been knocked down and rebuilt recently...

banie01

Insect Overlord wrote: »

I thought the Brazen Head was around since the 1600s?

Brazen Head exists in name only though.
The original Brazen Head was on John St in Garryowen by the old city walls....
But most people know the Brazen Head now as being on O'Connell St
Which wasn't even laid out as a street until the 1760s as part of the newtown/Georgian Limerick redevelopment.

But to the OP, whats the question? The earliest known pub in Limerick?
Or the Oldest continuosly trading(regardless of owners changing and so on)?

Delphi91

Maybe it would have been better to phrase the question as "What is the oldest licensed premises in Limerick?"

Icky Thump

fran38 wrote: »

I've been going into the Locke on and off since 1987 and it has been open a lot longer before then. It was extended in the early 90's though.

the locke was only opened in the 80's. i dont know the exact year but i do know that its only open 20-30 years

IsaacWunder

banie01 wrote: »

But to the OP, whats the question? The earliest known pub in Limerick?
Or the Oldest continuosly trading(regardless of owners changing and so on)?

If a case can be made for either put it down

IsaacWunder

Icky Thump wrote: »

the locke was only opened in the 80's. i dont know the exact year but i do know that its only open 20-30 years

This page is taken from Sean Spellissy's History of Limerick:

Robert Graves
(big image, so be careful opening it if you're using a smartphone)

So the Locke is, in name at least, 80 or 90 years old - if not older - and when taken with Flincher's article the pub is out in front in the claim to be the oldest of all...or at least alongside it.

Would be great to find somewhere older though. Cork's oldest is 1698, so we're not far off them.

millold

Icky Thump wrote: »

the locke was only opened in the 80's. i dont know the exact year but i do know that its only open 20-30 years

The Locke was formerly dessie burkes,was bought by current owners about 1988,burkes occupied what is now the "snug"side of the bar,and was extended over the years

Pure Mule

I was always of the opinion that Dirty Dick Devane's on the corner of Nicholas St was the oldest