Remembering Old Bars and Clubs

maudgonner

The soon-to-be-torn-down Warwick in Salthill.

http://connachttribune.ie/end-of-an-era-as-landmark-warwick-hotel-to-be-demolished-340/#

A Galway institution. Student nights on Thursdays. Home of The Stunning. Will be sadly missed.

The fact that it's going to be replaced by a nursing home is some kind of sick joke. I know I'm getting old, but not that old!

Losty Dublin

Turquoise Hexagon Sun wrote: »

They have The Breakfast Club there now. It's called The Dark Horse now though and people don't eat sausages or beans...

Sorry to wake this post up but it's now become a Starbucks :mad:

Hotblack Desiato

Jeez, the Warwick, was in there once on a very boozy trip away circa 1991/92. Can't remember too much about it as a good time was had in the Quays earlier

Zanzibar, overpriced pretentious kip. For a while after it opened it was the place that girlfriends/female friends wanted to go to, for some unknown reason. You could guarantee that if a bunch of ten or twelve people arranged to meet up there, at least one (always a fella) would be refused at the door for no reason at all. In the pre-mobile era that was your night ruined. So after one or two instances of that among their circle of friends, most sane people decided never to darken the door of the place again.

Pravda was a great place when it was new, one of the very few places where you could get Stoli and decent imported bottled beers, when the rest of the country was still drowning in tasteless macro lager swill

PowerToWait

maudgonner wrote: »

The soon-to-be-torn-down Warwick in Salthill.

http://connachttribune.ie/end-of-an-era-as-landmark-warwick-hotel-to-be-demolished-340/#

A Galway institution. Student nights on Thursdays.

Drug fuelled doesn't really do it justice. The Harbour was still going then. And into Pauric's for early next morning.

Outlaw Pete

The first time myself and my mates went into town drinking (we were all 16) we went to La Mirage nightclub (now Fibbers) as we heard it was easy to get served.

It was true Mad place.

Turtyturd

Barcode is a blast from the past. Used to work with a couple of lads from Darndale whose ambition it was to get into the place. Would go down every Thursday and get refused every time. Eventually started going down early in the evening before the crowds arrived and would only be refused 9 out every 10 times. Would always have stories about how the doorman didn't like them, but would follow it up with stories about how they went back to Hamunaptra and ended up in a row over something stupid.

Good time Charlie's was fairly popular in the late 90's when we were in school. There was a time when you'd see classmates there who you hadn't seen in school in ages.

Also remember Jets in the late 90's early 00's.

Remember most of the others from town which have been mentioned. For some reason I will always see The Vaults as a monument to a time when the country had completely lost the run of itself.

pajor

KungPao wrote: »

Ah did they do it up? Bah.

I used to live in Cork, had some great nights in there, even if I was little older than the average age. Cheap pints, decent music, dank dive, horrible toilet...it had it all.

I suppose they jacked up the prices since the old days?

They did the place up at the end of 2013. I was never actually in it after they it was renovated, as I was in college in Dublin and then moved out of Cork in 2014. But you can see from photos online how different the place looks. AFAIK the place was split into 2 pubs. The front bar is now a place called BarBarossa and what was the back bar is The Bróg now.

A cheap night out was filling up with pints in The Bróg and then next door to Gorbys for €2 drinks. What you want when you're 18. You can imagine how mank the jacks were on the night of LC results.

Hellrazer

Big Nasty wrote: »

Late bars killed the nightclub a fair bit. Used to be a load of clubs in South Dublin that are now long gone.
Faces - Churchtown
Club Sarah - Rathfarnham

2 of the most god awful kips I was ever in.The rugby crowd were the bisggest bunch of **** Ive ever had the honor of sharing a pub with.

JupiterKid wrote: »

Fibber McGees on Parnell St - I practically lived there in my college years in the mid 90s.

Practically grew up there myself-spent most of the 90s and early 2000s in there at least twice a week.. Met my wife there 22 years ago.Celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary last Monday.

Funny thing is my daughter(18) has now taken the torch so to speak and Fibbers is her local haunt now. Carrying on the family tradition!!!

Anyone remember the rat in the wall that died and they used to throw bottles of bleach into the hole until it rotted away. It took about a year for the smell to go completely.

Or the lad that used to pierce people with the gun on a Saturday night.I remember taking a stud out of a friends nipple with a pliers the next day.

It was never the same after they changed it around though.

Pete Moss

KungPao wrote: »

Any frequenters of The Flowing Tide downstairs bar? Neptune bar I think it was.

Some great times in there back in the late 90s to early 2000s. Closed now I believe. Was a good spot. Used to be packed out, decent jukebox, nice enough crowd.

Yeah, it used to be one of my old haunts. Had some great nights in there. The jukebox was fantastic - none of this single songs crap, they had entire albums to choose from and excellent albums at that. There was also a pool table there, but it was awkward to play on in certain spots, due to the shape of the place.
I follow The Flowing Tide page on Facebook, they reopened The Neptune Bar a number of months ago, on the night of an Ireland match prior to the Euros. Unfortunately, I had other plans so couldn't get in to pay a visit.

+1 for Fibbers too, had some terrific nights in there. One of the few places in Dublin where a bottle of Buckfast could be bought over the counter in a pub. The barmen were hilarious too, anytime you bought a bottle of Buckfast they'd say "Do you want a glass with that?", used to make me laugh every time :P

Despite being in tourist trap territory, Eamon Dorans was a decent place at times.

mookishboy

The Underground on Dame St.
It turned into a late cafe some point in early 2000's i think.
grub with a coffee that was 3/4 whiskey until it was bright out side. was always packed. good times in there

Atoms for Peace

Haven't had a penguin or club milk in ages.

Mister Vain

The Matrix nightclub. Can't remember where it was.

The Bee's Knees in Meath. Utter dive but the women were easy. Generally the rougher a place is the easier the women are.

Robeman

Can anyone tell me is Guinness pasturised or not. Had an argument with a fellow dairyman who claims guinness like fresh milk in that both pasturised. Please tell me he is wrong

HamsterFace

Hennellys in Castlebar. Now an Easons.

Every Sunday was like Paddy's day. You could walk in around 7 any evening and might find someone diving headfirst off the bar to try to get into a moving bottle bin.

It wap kinda like the place all the bad kids go to in Pinocchio. I'd say if you wandered in there you would have been disgusted but as a regular it was mighty craic at the time.

Gerinspain

This is really going back, and probably doesn't qualify as a club, but The Grove in Clontarf. Then we progressed on to:

The Apartment
The Countdown Club
Tiffanys
Sloopys

Brilliant times had in all those and great memories

Shint0

Gerinspain wrote: »

This is really going back, and probably doesn't qualify as a club, but The Grove in Clontarf.

That really must be going back as it moved to Raheny and was there for years.

Gerinspain

Shint0 wrote: »

That really must be going back as it moved to Raheny and was there for years.

Yes, all the way back to the late 60's

fleet_admiral

Daniel O Connell beside the Virgin megastore on Aston Quay. Used to get served in there when I was 15. Barmen didn't give a fiddlers

Big Nasty

fleet_admiral wrote: »

Daniel O Connell beside the Virgin megastore on Aston Quay. Used to get served in there when I was 15. Barmen didn't give a fiddlers

Still on the go. Aiming for the tourist market now.

20Cent

fleet_admiral wrote: »

Daniel O Connell beside the Virgin megastore on Aston Quay. Used to get served in there when I was 15. Barmen didn't give a fiddlers

Ha yeah did that.
Remember making fake USIT cards for ID?

Handed it to the fella there photo was sideways he didn't care lol.

ceadaoin.

Handels near Christ church. Used to go there a lot in the early 2000s. I think it turned into a placed called karma? No idea if it's still open

Muff Richardson

Happy Days, bar extension on the Old Shieling...for when the lads on the run fancied a bit of a bop.

Muff Richardson

ceadaoin. wrote: »

Handels near Christ church. Used to go there a lot in the early 2000s. I think it turned into a placed called karma? No idea if it's still open

I remember all the stoner lads I knew loved this place

Fozzie Bear

The Don Arms Hotel in Castlerea, back in the late 80's/90's. Long since closed and now a nursing home.

Went to my first Dishco in there when I was 16 and got plastered after about 3 pints, (They were dodgy as I learned in later years). Remember the room started spinning as did my stomach. Decided I needed to go the the Toilets, but it being my first time in there I had no idea where the fcuk they were. After walking/stumbling around with my hands over my face for a few minutes I couldn't hold it in and I proceeded to projectile vomit. That was bad enough but there was collateral damage in that I sprayed the local nut bag's pristine white shirt with my stomach contents. Now normally this knuckle draggers first reaction to any situation was to punch first and keep punching. Mongo wasn't capable of asking questions later...

So when he pulled off his shirt and stood in front of me topless I was expecting to be battered to a bloody pulp (or raped). But much to my surprise he pulled out an English 20 pound note and told me to go to the bar and get him and his mates 3 pints. I knew better then to present an English 20 pound note from this guy to the bar staff so I paid for it with my own money, got the pints back to the topless lunatic, gave him my "his" change (Irish money) and legged it. Looked at the 20 pound note after and it was a blatant fake. Blatant as in it looked like he had drawn it himself with crayons and stuck on a picture of his granny instead of the Queen. But I still had all my teeth so I wasn't complaining.

Also honerable mention for The Warwick in Salthill. Laffeys bar first in town and then out to Salthill for some craic. Great music and a general Legend of a place on a Thursday night (moshing to Nirvana). Seen The Stunning's last every gig there in 94, Something happens played the same night with them.

Also the Alley Night Club off Eyre Square. A kip but damn it all, it was our kip. Still fondly remember everything shutting down, lights coming on so that we could eat a dodgy curry off paper plates. Dodgy curry as in it was made of food stuffs rejected by the the local dogs home, so they served it up to us p1ss heads instead. Feeding time at the zoo for 10 minutes, then lights went down, music on and everything kicked off again. Gut rot guaranteed the next day too. Good times, good times....

somesoldiers

Fozzie Bear wrote: »

The Don Arms Hotel in Castlerea, back in the late 80's/90's. Long since closed and now a nursing home.

Went to my first Dishco in there when I was 16 and got plastered after about 3 pints, (They were dodgy as I learned in later years). Remember the room started spinning as did my stomach. Decided I needed to go the the Toilets, but it being my first time in there I had no idea where the fcuk they were. After walking/stumbling around with my hands over my face for a few minutes I couldn't hold it in and I proceeded to projectile vomit. That was bad enough but there was collateral damage in that I sprayed the local nut bag's pristine white shirt with my stomach contents. Now normally this knuckle draggers first reaction to any situation was to punch first and keep punching. Mongo wasn't capable of asking questions later...

So when he pulled off his shirt and stood in front of me topless I was expecting to be battered to a bloody pulp (or raped). But much to my surprise he pulled out an English 20 pound note and told me to go to the bar and get him and his mates 3 pints. I knew better then to present an English 20 pound note from this guy to the bar staff so I paid for it with my own money, got the pints back to the topless lunatic, gave him my "his" change (Irish money) and legged it. Looked at the 20 pound note after and it was a blatant fake. Blatant as in it looked like he had drawn it himself with crayons and stuck on a picture of his granny instead of the Queen. But I still had all my teeth so I wasn't complaining.

Also honerable mention for The Warwick in Salthill. Laffeys bar first in town and then out to Salthill for some craic. Great music and a general Legend of a place on a Thursday night (moshing to Nirvana). Seen The Stunning's last every gig there in 94, Something happens played the same night with them.

Also the Alley Night Club off Eyre Square. A kip but damn it all, it was our kip. Still fondly remember everything shutting down, lights coming on so that we could eat a dodgy curry off paper plates. Dodgy curry as in it was made of food stuffs rejected by the the local dogs home, so they served it up to us p1ss heads instead. Feeding time at the zoo for 10 minutes, then lights went down, music on and everything kicked off again. Gut rot guaranteed the next day too. Good times, good times....

Good story- wasn't there some rule back in the day where late night venues had to offer a meal included in the cover charge? remember it being mostly fried off spuds and chicken curry in our local disco

groucho marx

The high stool in Limerick,I enjoyed that place quite a bit circa 12 years ago

Fozzie Bear

somesoldiers wrote: »

Good story- wasn't there some rule back in the day where late night venues had to offer a meal included in the cover charge? remember it being mostly fried off spuds and chicken curry in our local disco

Ya the local Gardai came up with that one to sober people up and stop rows outside. Didn't last very long though.

Losty Dublin

Fozzie Bear wrote: »

Ya the local Gardai came up with that one to sober people up and stop rows outside. Didn't last very long though.

Not true though it sounds good.

Many late venues circumvented the need for taking out bar extensions by taking out a special restaurant licence. Provided they served a "substantial meal", they were allowed to stay open a lot later hence meals of nuggets and chips or rice and mild curries being served. Occasionally venues would need to be reminded by the local cops of their legal obligations in this regards while the meal helped to sober up many drunk revellers.

Big Nasty

Another one was taking advantage of 'theatre' licenses. If a theatre had a show on until say 3am they could legally serve for an hour after the last performance. Hence the likes of Spirit with dancers until all hours.

Seve OB

Some great reading in this thread and lots of memories flooding back

i just wandered in here myself as I was racking my head trying to remember the name of a pub on Wicklow street. It is now called Mary’s but back in the late 90’s the bar was only downstairs, in the door and straight down a big wide staircase

anyone remember what it was called?