Month: September 2026

Weirdo Guide to Dublin Pubs: Brogan’s

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Exterior of Brogan's by nightWe briefly name-checked Brogan’s in our roundup of the Best Pubs for History, but having recently had occasion to stop in on our way to a gig at the Olympia, its near neighbour, it was high time to expand upon that. Unlike some other pubs which trade on either imagined or exaggerated history, Brogan’s nearly does the opposite; there are many fascinating layers here that are barely touched upon in promotional material for its current incarnation.

Although it’s been Brogan’s since the early 1990s, the 4-story building at 75 Dame Street began life as a Georgian townhouse in the 1750s. It had a number of commercial uses, beginning later in the following century, finally becoming a pub in the late 19th century. This is perhaps when its most well-known Fenian connections date from: this is where the Invincibles, who met here regularly when it was known as Wrenn’s, planned the 1882 Phoenix Park assassinations. It was also a regular meeting spot for some key figures in Ireland’s independence struggle in the 1920s, or so the stories go (yes, despite being just opposite Dublin Castle, and no, we don’t believe there’s a tunnel – if nothing else, it would be constantly flooded).

Inside a crowded Brogan'sBut this pub was also an important spot for more recent social history; before becoming Brogan’s, it was The Viking Inn, one of Dublin’s first reasonably well-known gay bars. From 1979 until 1987, this was a true community meeting spot in a very different Ireland. Its proximity to the (also allegedly haunted – we’ll come back to this in a moment) Olympia Theatre didn’t hurt, either.

Stairs to nowhere, nowAnd local craft beer nerds may not find much to get excited about here nowadays (though there is a well-used Ambush tap – it just looks a bit lonely amongst all the Guinness memorabilia, unless you count the Beamish tap as ‘other’), the basement was the original home to Underdog, so once upon a time, there were more varied beer options here (if you didn’t mind your feet occasionally getting damp).

But Brogan’s also appeals to us as one of the few Dublin pubs to have a bit (emphasis on the ‘bit’) of ghostlore…it’s of the low-key poltergeist variety, with clinking glasses, footsteps and the odd slamming door. As we get closer into Spooky Season, and with so few good Haunted Pub stories in the neighbourhood, we’ll take it.

Bring on the ghosts!

Where: 75 Dame Street, Dublin
Access from the city centre: More or less in it
Food: Crisps, peanuts
Sport: All the usual big sports
TVs: Quite a few, not always on
Music: Very MOR on most of our visits
Family-friendliness: Not the most kid-friendly spot
Pub-crawl-ability: High – Porterhouse, The Lord Edward, The Bull & Castle, The Christchurch, The Brazen Head, Thomas Read’s, The Oak…and that’s just getting started (and avoiding most of Temple Bar)
Local sites of note: Olympia Theatre, Dublin Castle, Dublin City Hall, Chester Beatty Library, Christ Church Cathedral, Dublinia
Haunted: Knock once for yes?
Other notes: Although not on our Best Pubs for Books list, there are some books to borrow while you relax with a pint
Socials: Facebook

Weirdo Guide to Dublin Pubs: McGrath’s

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Outside McGrath'sTo very, very broadly paraphrase Paul Collins, the spots you don’t visit in your first few weeks of living in a new area become places you never go; they seem oddly out of your orbit. That has been the case for us with McGrath’s, a pub that is mere steps from home, but one we had previously only had one brief visit into, in between Covid lockdowns. That timing, no doubt, played a role, as did the fact that other pubs nearby either had a reliable children’s menu or had re-opened under new management, so there was a built-in excuse to visit those. And as there was no independent beer option on that single visit, there was no compelling reason to go back, especially when Juno and The Cat & Cage have some more compelling (if not inexpensive) choices for our fellow Drumcondra-area neighbours.

Scraggy Bay at McGrath'sBut having been reliably informed by someone who knows that there should be some local pints at McGrath’s – and at a reasonable-for-Dublin price – we paid another visit. But before we get to the drinks, it’s a spot that requires a bit more descriptive detail. Unlike many of its nearby counterparts, the interior (and, indeed, exterior, with its neon ‘LOUNGE’ sign) are not the more common-or-garden late 19th century pub style, nor its more modernised descendant, though the structure itself was built in the 19th century as housing. It became a pub at some point before 1938, when it took its current name, and the mostly-light wood and light fixtures look like it was last meaningfully refreshed in the 1960s. This adds a certain time-capsule charm, and it is certainly unpretentious.

The bar at McGrath'sPerhaps the real draw, though, is the Kinnegar tap – a reliable Scraggy Bay, and for a mere €7.20; this is an entire euro cheaper than you’ll find it at some nearby pubs, so certainly noteworthy. There’s also Galway Hooker, but we’ve never been fans of any of their beers (even before their rather confusing recent history of ownership and recipe changes), so no need to explore that option. And while we haven’t been in the pub much before this occasion, the attached off-license is quite a useful one, with a nice selection of beers from local stalwarts like Hope and Rascals. Again, it’s something of a time-warp with the need to be buzzed in the door, but for a small shop, it has a pleasantly surprising range of choices.

We may avail ourselves of the ‘affordable’ Scraggy more often in future, now that we are aware of it…

Where: Drumcondra Road Lower, Drumcondra, Dublin, D09 X5P6
Access from the city centre: 1, 13, 16, 44, 122, F1, F2, F3; 35ish minute walk
Food: Scampi fries, crisps
Sport: Golf, football, GAA, etc.
TVs: In various spots around the pub and in the lounge
Music: Just the sport on our visit
Family-friendliness: A fair few kids in on a weekend afternoon
Pub-crawl-ability: Medium – there are other pubs within a shortish walk, with Juno, Quinn’s, Phil Ryan’s The Hogan Stand, Fagan’s and Gill’s Corner House nearby, though it’s also worth it to head to The Bald Eagle, The Brian Boru or The Cat & Cage
Local sites of note: Croke Park, Mater Hospital, Royal Canal
Haunted: Does light phrogging count?
Other notes: Although food does come up if you search, there is no evidence of a current non-salty snack food offering
Socials: Instagram

Weirdo Guide to Dublin Pubs: Mulligan’s of Poolbeg Street

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The back room at Mulligan'sThis week’s Dublin pub is another frequently-requested one that we’ve put off visiting for far too long, and we were quite wrong to delay. Although previously labouring under the misapprehension that Mulligan’s of Poolbeg Street was a pub only for Guinness bores (albeit one with a few good stories), it is, in fact, delightful in nearly every way that appeals to us.

Although it does (actually) have an 18th century license, the modern pub looks barely touched since its 1880s rebuild. The dark reds and yellows, the wood panelling and the somewhat spare furnishing make for an unfussy Old Man Pub experience. It is, happily, lacking the busy array of old signage and remaindered hardware that can be overdone in some places, especially in overseas Oirish Pubs. There are two distinct sides of the pub, one entirely free of televisions if you prefer that experience. The beautiful back room is perfectly atmospheric, and there’s even a bonus outdoor beer garden.

A handy sign at Mulligan's
A handy sign at Mulligan’s

And yes, the Guinness may be a draw, but there is a very strong local independent lineup as well: several Wicklow Wolf and O’Hara’s options are on offer alongside The White Hag’s Little Fawn. But even among the macro beers, it’s a wider-than-usual array: the full Guinness/Beamish/Murphy’s blind tasting is possible, and there’s Harp and Kilkenny as well, plus some handy non-alcoholic options. In short, there’s something for every beer drinker (as well as some ciders for good measure).

But it’s the stories that bring people in (and back) – we’re much more interested in Judy Garland’s visits than JFK’s – though there are so many tales of this particular pub that it has its own dedicated book. We’d also highly recommend a listen to this Publin episode about how an American visitor’s ashes came to be resting in the clock; it certainly drives home some of the pub’s atmosphere.

The clock at Mulligan'sAs regular readers will know, we collect ghostlore of all stripes, and frequently complain that we simply don’t get enough of it around Dublin pubs, so finding a few good tales (especially as we closer to Spooky Season) is always cause for joy. The fact that the sightings (soundings?) in question are a bit shadowy and vague only adds to their appeal.

Finally, the other reason we wish we’d stopped in before is that Mulligan’s also feels much more urban and down-to-earth than even some of its near neighbours; the rather florid JR Mahon’s around the corner can feel entirely suburban in comparison. As city folk, the vibe in Mulligan’s is much more (for lack of a better word) straightforward; the fact that they also have a cracking beer lineup is a real bonus that will keep us coming back to do a bit of ghost-bothering.

Where: 8 Poolbeg Street, Dublin 2
Access from the city centre: Right there
Food: Peanuts, scampi fries, crisps
Sport: The usual football, etc
TVs: Screens on one side of the bar
Music: Low-key tunes
Family-friendliness: Grown-up vibes
Pub-crawl-ability: High – Cassidy’s, Tapped, Harty’s Bar, Bowes, JR Mahon’s, Bill Aherne’s, The Oval, The Palace Bar, The Flowing Tide, Piper’s Corner and many more
Local sites of note: NATIONAL WAX MUSEUM, Trinity College, Abbey Theatre, Irish Whiskey Museum, O’Connell Street
Haunted: FINALLY, some spooky goings-on are reported
Other notes: Is it the platonic ideal of a Dublin pub? Perhaps…
Socials: Instagram, Facebook

Weirdo Guide to Dublin Pubs: Best Pubs for History

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A glass of Rye River Upstream Pale Ale in the beer gardenIt’s September, and that means the Dublin Festival of History is nearly upon us; as ever, many wonderful events have sold out almost instantaneously, but there are more to explore. You can also create your own historic pub crawl – and maybe learn a little bit along the way.

For our purposes here, we aren’t looking for Dublin’s ‘oldest’ pub (we bang on enough about the bogus entries in the ‘oldest pub’ category across the country *cough* Sean’s Bar *cough*) or most literary pub, but rather, those with a reasonably legitimate historical claim to fame. Not of the ‘was once mentioned in Ulysses‘ or ‘Brendan Behan drank here’ sort, as we’d be here all week, but those with documented (or at least well-attested) historical connections. Given that the Wide Streets Commission knocked down much of medieval Dublin, we have no truly ‘old’ pubs (or even ‘old’ pubs that were once built as something else) to explore, so we’ll start off with pubs that have associations with the 1798 rebellion.

A pint at The Cat & CageThe Brazen Head and The Lord Edward both have arrays of 1898 memorabilia (although The Lord Edward is ‘only’ a late 19th century building, and feels much more like a 1960s pub than anything else), commemorating the centenary of the 1798 rebellion, though The Brazen Head goes a few steps further and claims – with at least some good evidence – that events were, to some extent, planned or discussed here – ditto Robert Emmet’s 1803 uprising. Indeed, we would love to see them lean more into this more interesting (and fact-based) history vs their entirely imaginary 1198 ‘founding.’ With so much real history – as well as a bit of related folklore – why not focus on that? (Yes, we know the ‘why’ is that many tourists are very willing to believe anything they’ve been told and it makes them feel good to see the ‘oldest fill-in-the-blank’ – it’s just a shame they are missing out on a much more interesting, if more complex, story). The Cat & Cage also claims a bit of 1798 action, as it was a postal stop during its time as a coaching inn; rebels seized a postal cart outside as a sign that the rebellion was on. We would still love to see a full historical survey of The Cat & Cage, as we suspect there may well be more going on there, archaeologically and archivally-speaking…and, frankly, we find it a much nicer pub than its city centre counterparts.

Exterior of The Long HallMoving on to pubs associated with the Fenian movement in the 1860s and 1880s, there are a few more takers – not particularly surprising, as so many Dublin pubs are late 19th century buildings at the earliest. The Bleeding Horse and The Long Hall (Cromien’s at the time) both trade on their associations to the movement without being entirely defined by them. Brogan’s (trading as Wrenn’s back then) is where the 1882 Phoenix Park assassinations were planned by the Invincibles; the event was organised just across the street from Dublin Castle, mere steps from the colonial establishment – whilst talk of a tunnel is likely no more than just that, the basement does flood from the old castle moat, as OG Underdog (RIP) regulars know all too well. The Hut also served as something of a Fenian meeting spot too, later in the 19th century, so it is said, though there’s little to tell the tale now amid the well-kept Victorian pub splendour.

Busts of Irish independence leaders inside The OvalA number of still-extant local pubs played roles in the Easter Rising and the War of Independence; The Portobello Bar (known as Davy’s) became part of the action, while The Oval was destroyed completely in 1916, and required years to rebuild. Cleary’s, meanwhile, was another meetup spot for Michael Collins and Harry Boland, among others, though Collins was also partial to The Palace Bar, and The Confession Box (previously The Maid of Erin) was another key locale for Volunteers. We highly recommend a viewing of this video featuring all-around legend Donal Fallon for more, and we always recommend his absolutely wonderful The Dublin Pub: A Social and Cultural History for further reading. We assume you’re all already listening to Three Castles Burning.

The Dublin Pub at Underdog (RIP) - yes, we're cheating with this picture.Finally, we’ll finish with something of an oddity, historically-speaking. As regulars know, most stories of secret tunnels or ‘ship’s timbers’ used to build pubs are Lies, and you should all pick up Historic Building Mythbusting by James Wright for more (or listen to us chat historic pub nonsense with James on the Beer Ladies Podcast). However, The Oak’s wooden panelling is said to have come from the RMS Mauretania, when its fittings were sold off in 1934. Is it entirely true?

Well, it makes a good story…and we’re willing to give this one a bit of credence. It looks the part, and the management doesn’t go out of its way to tell you about it.

And as mentioned at the start, there are plenty of local pubs with literary and journalistic associations, those with sporting links, musical legends and so on…just be wary of any advertising ‘early’ foundation dates or other overly-specific superlatives. A thoughtfully critical eye can be a fine companion to a nice pint, and a lovely way to begin a historic adventure.