Famous Dublin pubs that are no more

gaiscioch · 15-07-2014 2:51am #1

An Béal Bocht, Charlemont Street, Dublin 2

Somebody on another thread mentioned Charlemont Street. For me the street will forever be associated with An Béal Bocht pub which, aside from having one of the best two-hour happy hours in Dublin, was a hive of culture, holding plays (the premier of Brian Ó Nualláin's An Béal Bocht was held there in 1989) and more famously concerts by all the leading trad/folk music bands of the day. I remember going to one of my first ever pub gigs and it was a jazz-trad fusion gig there in the 1990s by Keith Donald of Moving Hearts. I was fascinated by the sorts of people who were there and the sax playing. It was on a corner of Charlemont street that is now full of mundane apartments like you'd find anywhere else in the city. Looking at streetview, it's either Rabobank or Snap printing that's on that corner now. According to this the pub closed in 2001. I can't even find an image of An Béal Bocht online. Either way, the street is less for its character now.

What other once famous pub in Dublin do you remember?

Hollister11 · 15-07-2014 3:40am

Pier house howth

Esel · 15-07-2014 4:11am

gaiscioch wrote: »

An Béal Bocht, Charlemont Street, Dublin 2

... the premier of Brian Ó Nualláin's An Béal Bocht was held there in 1989 ...

I think it was produced in The Peacock at least five years earlier?

Good pub though...

15-07-2014 4:14am

The Old Chinaman.

Savage place!

Esel · 15-07-2014 5:43am

Deleted User wrote: »

The Old Chinaman.

Savage place!

FYP.

JuliusCaesar · 15-07-2014 5:56am

Conway's, Parnell St.

So sad to see it closed nowadays. Great old fashioned bar.

anncoates · 15-07-2014 9:50am

The New Inn

Bartley Dunnes (Break for the border now roughly on the site)

William Tell (Hairy Lemon now on the site)

The Falcon Inn (Bleeding Horse now on the site although I think it was also called that pre-Falcon)

enda1 · 15-07-2014 10:09am

The Tuning Fork Rathfarnham was another though that's really South Dublin CC

Thargor · 15-07-2014 10:29am

Why not mention what made them great pubs as opposed to just pubs? Or did you just want a list of pub names to read?

Here you go:

Kings Arms, George, New Inn, Queens Head, Wheatsheaf, Black Horse, Prince of Wales, Victoria, Greyhound, Cross Keys, Star, White Lion, Castle, Rising Sun, Anchor, Chequers, Sun, Bull, Coach and Horses, Fox and Hounds, Angel, Hare and Hounds, Three Horseshoes, George and Dragon, Nags Head, Globe,Fox, Lamb, Golden Lion, Masons Arms, White Swan, Beehive, Green Man, Travellers Rest, Foresters Arms, Waggon and Horses, Black Bull, Red Lion, Crown, Royal Oak, White Hart, Plough, White Horse, Kings Head, Rose and Crown.

schemingbohemia · 15-07-2014 10:33am

enda1 wrote: »

The Tuning Fork Rathfarnham was another though that's really South Dublin CC

The Tuning Fork is gone? When?

enda1 · 15-07-2014 10:35am

schemingbohemia wrote: »

The Tuning Fork is gone? When?

The building is still there and all, but it closed in 2009 or so. Has it reopened maybe?

schemingbohemia · 15-07-2014 12:24pm

enda1 wrote: »

The building is still there and all, but it closed in 2009 or so. Has it reopened maybe?

Haven't been around there in ages but grew up nearby (Ballyboden) thought that place would be there forever.

Bigus · 15-07-2014 12:39pm

enda1 wrote: »

The building is still there and all, but it closed in 2009 or so. Has it reopened maybe?

No tuning fork closed ,

as is Castle inn Main Street rathfarnham closed ( will re open in time)

rathfarnham inn/Sarah curran gone forever (big crèche ) ,

Mcgowans church town,closed, will be redeveloped, no pub I'd say.

gaiscioch · 15-07-2014 1:57pm

Mother Redcaps, another fantastic place for trad music and it wasn't unusual for Christy Moore to play in there even though he could fill out the Point for a week at the same time of his career. Better still were the seisiúin, my favourite being the Sunday morning one which would allow people from all over the world to get up (or stay sitting) and sing traditional/folk songs from their own countries. You could see by the expressions on the tourists that the place created enormous positivity and goodwill towards Ireland. On Tuesday 5 July 2005 Mother Redcaps' finally closed according to this, having been on that site since 1760.

Mother Redcaps, which is directly opposite the headquarters of An Taisce in Tailors' Hall on Back Lane, is just a derelict building now, badly in need of maintenance on heritage grounds alone.

gaiscioch · 15-07-2014 2:06pm

JuliusCaesar wrote: »

Conway's, Parnell St.

So sad to see it closed nowadays. Great old fashioned bar.

When brown envelopes weren't being handed over there from agents of property developers to councillors, Conways used to have superb gigs upstairs. I remember listening to a French chanteuse there in about 2005. A quick search and it used to be known as The Boom Boom Room.

uch · 15-07-2014 3:46pm

Reagans of Tara Street, place would be packed at 7:45 in the morning, you could use a chainsaw to cut through the smoke, savage Pint of Plain though.

spurious · 15-07-2014 4:15pm

An Beal Bocht, for gaiscioch.
picture.php?albumid=309&pictureid=15215

HeidiHeidi · 15-07-2014 4:17pm

OMG that brings me back :eek::eek:

spurious wrote: »

An Beal Bocht, for gaiscioch.

HeidiHeidi · 15-07-2014 4:20pm

And another one nearby that I remember was the Charlotte Inn - the whole bloomin' street is gone now, never mind the pub!

Charlotte Way used to run up the middle of the block where the Bleeding Horse and Camden Court Hotel are now.

(O/T but does anyone else remember Stein Opticians holding out till the very very VERY last minute, while the whole neighbourhood was knocked down around them

)

tricky D · 15-07-2014 4:34pm

Hollister11 wrote: »

Pier house howth

Now O'Connells. The decor is a bit fancier and they put a kitchen in half of the top floor. It's not the same as the good old days when the Rickards owned it (they sold out at the right time) and it can be a bit noisy with sounds bouncing off walls when even just a bit crowded. The summer harbour views and sunsets are still excellent.

The kip that was the Cock Tavern in Howth has shut recently and doesn't look like opening any time soon - so no loss there.

Day Lewin · 15-07-2014 4:41pm

ENDORSING - Patrick Conways, as well as the music upstairs, it was where dads waited for news from the Rotunda! Surrounded by interns, sometimes!

AND..."old" Sinnotts, on Sth King St. Opposite the Gaiety. Was a proper Dublin pub with a brass rail under the bar and strikers for matches on the wall, and a snug. Theatrical types, and no nonsense about music. Got demolished for the Stephens Green Centre and replaced by one of the same name...but not the same pub, by a long mile.

gaiscioch · 15-07-2014 5:47pm

spurious wrote: »

An Beal Bocht, for gaiscioch.

Wow. That's the nearest thing I've ever come to time travel! I was going to say in the op that it was green and white but I thought my memory was failing me as they seemed odd colours for a pub. Amazing period-capturing photo. Thanks.

Memories of my own denim jacket and the music bands' names I got sowed onto the back of them, and downstairs in Sound Cellar on Nassau Street are coming back too

gaiscioch · 15-07-2014 5:55pm

katemarch wrote: »

ENDORSING - Patrick Conways, as well as the music upstairs, it was where dads waited for news from the Rotunda! Surrounded by interns, sometimes!

Funny you should say that but a friend was advising me to go there for my impending leanbh, but hopefully now that Conway's is no more it will be timed perfectly for a Friday night and I can be directly across the road at An Góilín Traditional Singers' club in the Teachers' Club. By some accounts it could take 30 hours or so, sure every man would need something to settle him. :pac:

Dr Turk Turkelton · 15-07-2014 6:39pm

The Castle in Finglas was great.
Also is "the Blacker" in Coolock still open?

ah those were the days-a simpler time when bouncers were needed during the day.

jippo nolan · 15-07-2014 6:54pm

uch wrote: »

Reagans of Tara Street, place would be packed at 7:45 in the morning, you could use a chainsaw to cut through the smoke, savage Pint of Plain though.

And piss out in the open!

jippo nolan · 15-07-2014 7:02pm

Dr Turk Turkelton wrote: »

The Castle in Finglas was great.
Also is "the Blacker" in Coolock still open?

ah those were the days-a simpler time when bouncers were needed during the day.

And if you'd a full set of teeth, you must be a tourist!

babaracus · 15-07-2014 7:44pm

Dr Turk Turkelton wrote: »

The Castle in Finglas was great.
Also is "the Blacker" in Coolock still open?

ah those were the days-a simpler time when bouncers were needed during the day.

The Blacker is still going but called something else now. Liz Delaney's I think. Painted a gaudy godawful colour on the outside. I have not been brave enough to sample its internal delights in the last 10 years.

On the OP: Berminghams on Dorset St seems to be closed the last couple of years. Was in there about 2009 after a game in Croker and it had not been done up since about 1960, stank like hell and had barstaff who may well have served their apprenticeship while we were still under British rule. It had character and characters though.

anncoates · 15-07-2014 8:33pm

Was there a Berminghams on Parnell Street too? Just up from the Welcome Inn? I'm sure I remember being brought there by my da before matches around 1980 or 81.

Also in the early 90s wasn't there a sheebeen place called the Thornbush on the same street?

tricky D · 15-07-2014 9:30pm

anncoates wrote: »

Also in the early 90s wasn't there a sheebeen place called the Thornbush on the same street?

Beside the Post Office. Now the Dublin Supporters Bar.

Which brings us to the Blue Lion a few doors eastward. Rough as hell.

richardjjd · 15-07-2014 11:06pm

HeidiHeidi wrote: »

And another one nearby that I remember was the Charlotte Inn - the whole bloomin' street is gone now, never mind the pub!

Don't remember the Charlotte Inn, but I do remember the Falcon, which is where The Bleeding Horse is now. The saltiest sausages ever and man-with-a-keyboard from about 9pm on a Friday night singing nothing but Neil Diamond. The pub was run by Mrs. Ryan and served a great pint!

The back of An Beal Bocht was great for music too -- Kieran Goss played an incredible concert there one night in the early 90s.

JuliusCaesar · 15-07-2014 11:07pm

I used drink in the Toby Jug, long demolished now! That was around the time of the Dandelion...

Famous Dublin pubs that are no more

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