Back in 2021, The Dublin InQuirer ran a feature musing about Dublin neighbourhoods; some have reasonably clear boundaries, while others are more vibes-based, with considerable disagreement over whether a particular street or landmark is ‘really’ in one or another. They followed up with a request for readers to draw their neighbourhoods as they saw them, and the results, as one might imagine, were perhaps best described as lacking consensus.
And this week’s pub is a perfect illustration of that disconnect: by name and postal code, The Libertine is in, well, The Liberties, but it doesn’t feel like it’s in The Liberties. And it looks like most who contributed their thoughts agree – this is not really The Liberties. But’s it’s apparently also not Harold’s Cross, nor is it quite Portobello; per most of the mapping data, it’s in something of an undefined area, neither in nor out of a number of neighbourhoods.
This is especially interesting as The Libertine is a near neighbour of one of Dublin’s most famous fictional characters: 52 Clanbrassil Street was the home of Leopold Bloom in Ulysses, just steps away. One would think that after being mentioned explicitly in such a well-known work there would be agreement on where we are, but it would seem not.
More importantly, though, the pub.
Opening earlier this year, The Libertine replaced 57 The Headline, a renowned spot for local food and beer, under its new name and management, it also now includes a small hotel offering. It’s very much on the ‘gastro’ end of the scale, and while it was already very well-appointed inside, it’s been beautifully refinished. There’s a mix of subway tiles and patterned wood in various shades, as well as colourful seating and a variety of spaces for groups large and small.
Dog- and family-friendly by design, on our visit there were many families out enjoying Sunday brunch, but it was equally pleasant to enjoy a quiet pint at the bar. As before, there are good local independent beer options from Trouble, Wicklow Wolf and more, plus Harp and a few Belgian and German offerings. The feel is very laid-back and more casual than the newer design touches might suggest, and while we didn’t have time to try it on the occasion, all of the food looked amazing – another time.
And we also understand the impulse to simply decide to be part of one neighbourhood when one isn’t clearly assigned to you – we have the same situation in our particular Dublin non-neighbourhood – we’re on the borders of perhaps three different ones (or four, depending on who you ask), but aren’t quite ‘of’ any of them, though it can be easier to simply choose one when trying to explain directions (or, indeed, vibes) to someone.
Perhaps that’s what makes this entry appropriate for Halloween week, even without a ghost story: it’s all liminal…
Where: 57 Clanbrassil Street Lower, Dublin 8, D08 HC79
Access from the city centre: Buses F1, F2, F3, 16, 68, 122; half-hour walk
Food: Gastropub and Sunday roast offerings change seasonally; elevated bar snacks
Sport: None here
TVs: Screen-free
Music: Chill background vibes
Family-friendliness: Many families in for lunch and brunch
Pub-crawl-ability: Medium – Leonard’s Corner is across the road, with Board and Harold House a bit of a longer walk away, with the many and various pubs of Camden Street like The Bleeding Horse and Anseo slightly further afield – the main pubs of The Liberties like Dudley’s, Arthur’s and The Thomas House feel…elsewhere, a good 20 minute walk away
Local sites of note: Not a tourist hotspot, but The National Stadium is nearby, the Grand Canal is right there and St Patrick’s Cathedral isn’t terribly far away
Haunted: Can a street be haunted by fictional characters? TULPA LEOPOLD BLOOM NOW.
Other notes: As in its previous guise, also a fine whiskey selection
Socials: Instagram
As regular readers know, we are always on the lookout for 
While the ‘since 1793’ date is a little shaky, given the current building’s construction 
So, ghosts aside, what is the pub like? Well…most definitely not creepy. If anything, it’s a bit too polished to feel at all like a liminal space. There are several very different sections of the pub with their own character, but none are especially dark or gloomy. The front is much more ‘pubby’ and the rear more of a restaurant or hotel bar vibe (the many large TV screens are part of what gives that impression), though it’s worth knowing that the back bar is where the sole local-craft-beer representative is; there’s a Rye River tap if you know where to look. Indeed, the food was very good – a step up from a lot of pub food, though the enormous portions are perhaps created more for tourists than locals. There’s also the usual Guinness – and Murphy’s – plus some Warsteiner.
There’s a covered outdoor space too, more 
The Bleeding Horse gets the usual James Joyce namecheck in Ulysses, complete with a stone at the door to remind the visitor, but I’m personally more interested in the 
A 17th century ale-house would have been somewhat akin to our modern ‘wet pub’ (yes, it’s a terrible phrase), with drink on offer, but little else, while an inn would have offered accommodation as well as refreshment. And although ‘public houses’ 