Category Archives: Uncategorized
The Thursday Tipple: The Lower Deck, Portobello Harbour
The nights are getting longer. By teatime, as I walk past the swans fluttering into and out of the black waters, the dark has long descended. The Lower Deck, tucked in behind the Atlas Language School in Portobello, is my … Continue reading
The Thursday Tipple: the workshop, George’s Quay
As you face George’s Quay, you see the old and the new swirl around the workshop. Etched above the pub’s sleek, non-capitalised name-sign is an old, tired one, Kennedy’s, the name from yesteryear and the family who’ve owned it since … Continue reading
The Thursday Tipple: The Swinside Inn, Newlands Valley, Cumbria
The Thursday Tipple takes a brief break from Dublin. It finds itself in Cumbria’s Lake District, England at its wettest, most mountainous and most majestic. At a distance from the iconic Lake District of tourist-filled towns like Keswick and Windermere, … Continue reading
The Thursday Tipple: The Wiley Fox, Eden Quay
Tucked in beside Liberty Hall, near the metallic hulk of Butt Bridge, is The Wiley Fox. Some might know it as its previous incarnation, The Pint, or The Liffey Bar before that. Others will know it simply as the place … Continue reading
The Thursday Tipple: J.W. Sweetman, Burgh Quay
Most Dubliners will know J.W. Sweetman’s predecessor on Burgh Quay, Messrs Maguire – the multi-storeyed pub on the right-hand side of the quays as you head north at O’Connell Bridge. They probably know it from summers’ eves and the unique … Continue reading
The Thursday Tipple: O’Neill’s, Pearse Street
In Dublin, most good pubs are quickly hunted down and, to their owner’s delight, never left neglected. But every city has its blind spots, locations just off the beaten track that leave a good pub unnoticed to locals, tourists or … Continue reading
The Thursday Tipple: The Bernard Shaw, South Richmond Street
As I leave the office, a colleague tells me he’s leaving work early to accompany his daughter to the Ed Sheerin concert in the Phoenix Park. In his mid-forties (I think), he sounds amused at the prospect of time-travelling. At … Continue reading
The Thursday tipple: Peter’s Pub, Johnson Place
It’s a distinctive name for a pub in Dublin – not a surname in the possessive case or an adjectival definite article (e.g. The Hairy Lemon), but a possessive case first name. Peter’s pub: owned by three generations of Peters … Continue reading
The Thursday tipple: JJ Smyth’s, Aungier Street
JJ Smyth’s exterior spells confidence: recently painted walls of contrasting colours; large, national flags almost draping the building; a large plaque commemorating famous Irish poet and lyricist Sir Thomas Moore, who was born here. When I open the door, my … Continue reading