242) Clarke’s Phibsborough House of Phibsborough Road, D7

A glorious old style local established in 1889 on the corner of Monck Place. The bar is horseshoe shaped and the windows admit wondrous sunsets and even a peek into the neighbouring houses – voyeuristic impulses may thus also be indulged, even if only to ogle a middle-aged man pottering about in his room  – o the thrills! I love the danger!

A clock protrudes outside on high and stained-glass is plentiful especially around the front door. A seldom used upstairs bar is available. Made the news in 2006 with the following headline [1]: ‘Bar manager had ear lobe bitten off in fight.’ The said bar manager, Mr. Clarke, is seen photographed in the article minus the lobe. However, the only danger we found was falling into the trap of staying too long, so good was the Guinness.

Over the road is the awful Back Page pub which is gastritis and hipsterish, another of the bloody Bodytonic shitholes post-evisceration and completely transmogrified into an ‘Arcade Room.’ We chose to bypass this kindergarten but had to mention the massive Eamon Dunphy quote painted on the side of its building which has become a popular piece in Phibsborough: ‘This fella Ronaldo is a cod.’ Ronaldo is, of course, the world’s greatest football player alongside Lionel Messi - good man Eamo! [2]

FOOTNOTES

[1] Said article can be perused by following: https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/bar-manager-had-ear-lobe-bitten-off-in-fight-court-told-26457174.html

[2] Some of the other amusing quotes from Eamon Dunphy include: 

‘You can’t get good coke in this town.’ 

‘This country’s a kip!’ 

‘I was on the beer with Ray (Houghton) the night before RTÉ threw me off the panel for being drunk.’

‘It’s not racism, it's ethnic criticism, Bill.’ 

‘Niall Quinn is a creep. The man’s an idiot, a Mother Theresa.’ 

‘I’ll tell you who wrote it, I can remember his name, it was Rod Liddle. He’s the guy that ran away and left his wife for a young one.’ 

‘If they (England) get to the quarter finals, Bill, I’ll show up with a dress on.’

- After the Garth Crooks interview with Sven Goran Eriksson: ‘That’s the first time I’ve seen sex between two men on the BBC.’

- When asked by the late Gay Byrne what he, Eamon Dunphy, would say to GOD at the pearly gates: ‘Are you still serving?’

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