Famous Dublin pubs that are no more

loyatemu · 18-07-2014 10:59pm

The Aungier House (or Danger House as we students referred to it) opposite the DIT on Aungier St

very cheap pints & a pool table, opposite a college yet hardly any students ever went in as it looked dodgy as all hell - witnessed the odd fight in there but only really between the regulars...

The Chinaman at the other end of the college was (relatively) more popular with students as they had a fairly tolerant attitude to the smoking of "herbal" cigarettes.

The Napper Tandy - Bride St

that was closed and boarded up in the mid-90s - it looked pretty dodgy as well.

harry Bailey esq · 19-07-2014 12:13am

gaiscioch wrote: »

Speaking of Dorset Street, anybody remember the Meeting Place? There used to be good trad seisiúin there also, but I only noticed from glancing at the inlay sleeve a few years ago that the superb Live in Dublin album by Christy Moore, Jimmy Faulkner & Dónal Lunny was partly recorded there in 1978 (this is the album with the incomparable version of The Boys of Barr na Sráide on it).

Can't find a photo of it either but it was painted red for years, and was on a corner of Upper Dorset Street (the far side of the street to Maye's). I think it was here, where a pub named Delahunty's is now.

was it not called the meeting pint?

harry Bailey esq · 19-07-2014 12:21am

The Hill Billy wrote: »

Mahaffy's on Pearse St was a great boozer. Now sadly replaced with the insipid Lomdard Bar.

Back in the day there was a great mix of locals (who were probably barred from The Windjammer), Trinity students, commuters waiting for trains, etc. The manager was a stout camp gent with an awful wig who had great one-liners to put down any uppity customers. Jim was his next in command. A long suffering professional bar man who was a real gentleman.

They used to do carvery lunches & I remember sitting next to Howard Jones one day (he was probably recording in Windmill Lane at the time). Both of us having gone for pints of stout with our bacon, cabbage & potatoes with parsley sauce.

Strangely enough, I 'ejected' Howard's brother Paul from The Bricklayer's Arms in High Wycombe several years later.

many years ago i had a long wait ahead of me at the passport office,so i went walkabout and discovered mahaffys,what a find.collected my passport several hours and several drinks later

one of only a handful of my haunts south of the river.I like to stay on the northside....

L1011 · 19-07-2014 4:33am

Cienciano wrote: »

No way! Birminghams is closed? Great interior in that pub. Proper old school pub.

I'm not sure it is - think it just opens very rarely now instead. Never went in but the exterior is very 1953.

http://bigmacandwhys.wordpress.com/2014/01/03/farewell-to-an-old-friend/ suggests it is closed though.

While its not actually Gone gone, in the mists of time The Shakespeare on Parnell Street used to be in the family (as was the Deers Head further down) and its completely changed as a standard pub at this stage. Building fabric is still close to what it was but as a Korean restaurant its not quite the same!

killbillvol2 · 19-07-2014 12:25pm

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!

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.

I was in Sinnott's on the last night it was open. Eugene Wilson owned it, a proper gent, brother of former Tanaiste, John. The current place is an abomination in comparison.

Cienciano · 19-07-2014 2:28pm

A Disgrace wrote: »

I guess you could lump Kennedy's on the Quays into the above too. A real dive bar brimming with atmosphere that's now a fairly bog standard cafe style pub - after the owner promising all and sundry that they wouldn't change the interior after a flood a year or two ago

Is it changed totally? I used to go in there for the odd one, the toilets were cool. Urinals were like baths standing on their end, big massive things, and the cubicle doors had about an inch thick of paint on it, you could tell they were ancient. Then they changed the jacks to this terrible thing. Normal urinals, but tiles that were left over from a kitchen from the early 90's were used, and obviously put up by someone who did tiling for the first time. Haven't been in there for a few years

JuliusCaesar · 20-07-2014 3:23pm

MYOB wrote: »

I'm not sure it is - think it just opens very rarely now instead. Never went in but the exterior is very 1953.

http://bigmacandwhys.wordpress.com/2014/01/03/farewell-to-an-old-friend/ suggests it is closed though.

While its not actually Gone gone, in the mists of time The Shakespeare on Parnell Street used to be in the family (as was the Deers Head further down) and its completely changed as a standard pub at this stage. Building fabric is still close to what it was but as a Korean restaurant its not quite the same!

Weren't there several murders in there over the years? :eek:

katemarch wrote: »

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.

There was a whole rake of pubs in that area: The Toby Jug, Sheehan, Kehoes, Sinnots. We used them all, wandered off with glasses in hand from one to the next. With an occasional excursion to the Palace. Only Kehoes and The Palace still remain the same.

L1011 · 20-07-2014 6:18pm

JuliusCaesar wrote: »

Weren't there several murders in there over the years? :eek:

Which pub?

I know (from newspaper records) that a British soldier tried to kill himself in the Deers Head in the early 1910s - suicide was still a crime then so he was tried for it and all. Never found anything *else* dodgy about them in the time they were family owned though!

JuliusCaesar · 21-07-2014 7:51pm

The Shakespeare on Parnell St.

L1011 · 22-07-2014 12:02pm

JuliusCaesar wrote: »

The Shakespeare on Parnell St.

Wouldn't surprise me in the slightest; but I've no reason to research it after about 1925 thankfully!

spurious · 22-07-2014 12:11pm

I think the murders may have been further up the street in the Blue Lion.
I think it's gone now. No loss.

anncoates · 22-07-2014 1:06pm

JuliusCaesar wrote: »

C'est moi! (modestly blushes) cough!

I liked this post provisionally on you meaning Bohemian in the cultural and not Dublin football sense of the word. :pac:

gugleguy · 22-07-2014 2:51pm

The Metro in Tallaght village - quite recently.

dd972 · 24-07-2014 1:01am

Used to like the Dollymount House, good carvery and bigger than Leinster House, The Dockers is also a sad loss.

harry Bailey esq · 24-07-2014 2:46am

spurious wrote: »

I think the murders may have been further up the street in the Blue Lion.
I think it's gone now. No loss.

i can recall two murders in the blue lion,that pub was a paradox in the fact that it was often dubbed 'ropiest pub in Dublin' but was also one of the safest,well for regulars anyways.So many different gangsters drank in there and there was often an undercurrent of fear amongst the patrons,they were all afraid of each other so people would sup their pints and keep their eyes down an their mouths shut,it was always when a newcomer strolled in when things kicked off.The bottom of the hill in finglas has the same vibe.

neamhspleachi · 24-07-2014 11:15am

harry Bailey esq wrote: »

i can recall two murders in the blue lion,that pub was a paradox in the fact that it was often dubbed 'ropiest pub in Dublin' but was also one of the safest,well for regulars anyways.So many different gangsters drank in there and there was often an undercurrent of fear amongst the patrons,they were all afraid of each other so people would sup their pints and keep their eyes down an their mouths shut,it was always when a newcomer strolled in when things kicked off.The bottom of the hill in finglas has the same vibe.

True story...when the African immigrants first started moving into the area en masse, a couple of gangster type Africans took it upon themselves to walk into the Blue Lion one day, asked to speak to the management & proceeded to negotiate 'protection payments'

A wink & a nod later & the local boys supping at the bar locked the front & back doors to the premises & introduced said African gangsters to the art of inner city negotiations in the time honoured tradition

Needles to say no payments were forthcoming :pac::pac::pac:

harry Bailey esq · 24-07-2014 11:37am

neamhspleachi wrote: »

True story...when the African immigrants first started moving into the area en masse, a couple of gangster type Africans took it upon themselves to walk into the Blue Lion one day, asked to speak to the management & proceeded to negotiate 'protection payments'

A wink & a nod later & the local boys supping at the bar locked the front & back doors to the premises & introduced said African gangsters to the art of inner city negotiations in the time honoured tradition

Needles to say no payments were forthcoming :pac::pac::pac:

yep,the African guys took up the lease on the forum pub across the street,and tried to flex their muscle on surrounding businesses,when they went into the blue lion,they were told to come back at six pm to 'negotiate' with the manager as the barman didn't have access to cash... when they returned they got beaten bla... well lets say blue

the forum shut its doors officially two weeks later,although it operated as a late night shebeen for some months after,and had to pay protection to a well known family from summerhill,one of them being a fairly well known 'limousine driver'

Esel · 24-07-2014 8:40pm

Got braced in the Blue Lion about 5 10 years ago when a few of us went in to hear a blues band.

This hardchaw kept asking me where I was from. Told him (roughly) where I lived. Asked again. Told him where I grew up. Asked again. Said what??? He said:

Are you from Store St or Fitzgibbon St?

I did go back again to hear the band though. Interesting place alright.

power pants · 25-07-2014 10:33am

lot of nonsense spouted off as per usual about that incident

here is a more accurate description of the events

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/leave-here-******-jibe-sparked-row-court-told-26090775.html

also its been closed nearer to 10 years ago not 5

harry Bailey esq · 25-07-2014 10:45am

power pants wrote: »

lot of nonsense spouted off as per usual about that incident

here is a more accurate description of the events

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/leave-here-******-jibe-sparked-row-court-told-26090775.html

also its been closed nearer to 10 years ago not 5

oh its in the indo? must be true so... seriously though that's nonsense,the first incident happened INSIDE the bar,the incident reported in the indo would have been overspill from the original incident. Your right about one thing though,the blue lion closed in 2005. It then morphed into this weird Korean karaoke place,and then became a polish/Lithuanian pub.

harry Bailey esq · 25-07-2014 11:03am

has anyone mentioned the neptune lounge,downstairs in the flowing tide yet? Used to love that place,brilliant mix of customers in there,you'd have the arty set from the abbey drinkin side by side with rough as fook biker types,and everyone got on famously.It was a shame they closed it,and a mystery too,as the place was always jammed.

septictank · 25-07-2014 11:25am

harry Bailey esq wrote: »

has anyone mentioned the neptune lounge,downstairs in the flowing tide yet? Used to love that place,brilliant mix of customers in there,you'd have the arty set from the abbey drinkin side by side with rough as fook biker types,and everyone got on famously.It was a shame they closed it,and a mystery too,as the place was always jammed.

When Lorcan took over running the pub about 10 years ago he got rid of all the old staff, changed the feel of the place, the Neptune was turned into a F1 pub with flat screens ruined the place.

Think there were Health and safety issues because of the exit as well.

septictank · 25-07-2014 11:48am

neamhspleachi wrote: »

True story...when the African immigrants first started moving into the area en masse, a couple of gangster type Africans took it upon themselves to walk into the Blue Lion one day, asked to speak to the management & proceeded to negotiate 'protection payments'

A wink & a nod later & the local boys supping at the bar locked the front & back doors to the premises & introduced said African gangsters to the art of inner city negotiations in the time honoured tradition

Needles to say no payments were forthcoming :pac::pac::pac:

The version I heard was that it was Conway's and the owner went to his other pub Trader Johns in Moore street and got a gang of lads up, the African lads ended up in a skip, it was around the same time that the Chinese groups had the row in the pub that spilled out on to O Connell street and one of the lads was killed, knives flying everywhere.

neamhspleachi · 25-07-2014 4:34pm

harry Bailey esq wrote: »

has anyone mentioned the neptune lounge,downstairs in the flowing tide yet? Used to love that place,brilliant mix of customers in there,you'd have the arty set from the abbey drinkin side by side with rough as fook biker types,and everyone got on famously.It was a shame they closed it,and a mystery too,as the place was always jammed.

I was one of these blackguards, still am :pac:

The Hill Billy · 26-07-2014 9:08am

Let's not forget the infamous Widow Scallans on Pearse Street. Was only there once with a local pal of mine. Once was more than enough.

anncoates · 26-07-2014 11:21am

septictank wrote: »

The version I heard was that it was Conway's and the owner went to his other pub Trader Johns in Moore street and got a gang of lads up, the African lads ended up in a skip, it was around the same time that the Chinese groups had the row in the pub that spilled out on to O Connell street and one of the lads was killed, knives flying everywhere.

Jaysus Trader John's.

Where Paddy Powers is now?

And also the dog rough place at other end of Moore Street where the mall is now. It didn't even have a name.

The Hill Billy · 26-07-2014 11:28am

Trader John's was a super spot. A great mate of mine from England always insisted that we head into town for early pints there on a Saturday when he visited for a weekend. The pints of stout were top notch.

sabat · 26-07-2014 3:27pm

anncoates wrote: »

And also the dog rough place at other end of Moore Street where the mall is now. It didn't even have a name.

I remember they used to sell flagons for £3 out of a hatch at the front-neither age of purchaser or time of day was ever an issue. The South William St area was the go-to place for underage pints back in the day-you had the original South William where Taste Food Co. is now, the William Tell around the corner and Charlie's Rock Bar on Aungier St. I was drinking in these places from when I was about 14 whereas most other pubs around town had about 16 as their limit-things have certainly got more strict since then.

neamhspleachi · 26-07-2014 3:33pm

sabat wrote: »

I remember they used to sell flagons for £3 out of a hatch at the front-neither age of purchaser or time of day was ever an issue.

True that, many's an underage punk rockers road to ruin :cool:

harry Bailey esq · 26-07-2014 3:38pm

sabat wrote: »

I remember they used to sell flagons for £3 out of a hatch at the front-neither age of purchaser or time of day was ever an issue.

That takes me back:)hereford cider if i remember correct?never had the urge to venture inside mind,90% of the clientele were elderly women.The peacock was our only option when we were not quite old enough to go anywhere else....

Famous Dublin pubs that are no more

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