319) The Fourth Corner of Patrick Street, D8

Formerly called Nash's, which played host to the graduation day party of St. Patrick Cathedral Grammar School's Class of 2007. Since most were by then of legal age, the teachers treated the students to free drinks, and many barriers were touchingly broken down. Sam Coll, at the time a drinking novice unused to wine ('Are ya wearing lipstick?' the barman sneered), drank way too much and consequently puked his ring when he got home, spraying vomit all over the kitchen floor before collapsing comatose. Schooldays! 

The bar subsequently closed in 2008/9, and remained shut for the best part of ten years before finally reopening in its current guise. A late opener, very dark and very loud, clearly catering to a youthful audience, and overall nothing much to write home about, though the seats by the barrels outside provide excellent views of the passing parade. But the place is principally of historical interest – at one time the crossroads was called 'The Four Corners of Hell' (as the name suggests, this is the only surviving corner), and had four pubs for every corner (the rivalry must have been intense), all of them facing each other, a recipe for combustion if ever there was one. The streets that met each other were New Street, Patrick Street, Kevin Street and Dean Street, and the competing pubs in question were called Kenny's, Quinn's, O'Beirne's and Lowe's.

The locale was renowned throughout the city for its raucousness, and was made infamous by the profusion of fights that would break out at the crossroads, especially after closing time when drunkards would spill out en masse onto the roads and pick petty squabbles with each other. Kevin Street Garda Station more than had its work cut out contending with four pubs worth of disputatious drinkers, and the legendary policeman 'Lugs' Brannigan (of the big jug ears) would often include the junction on his beat and took an active part in administering 'tough justice' (frequently with his fists) to the rowdy marauders. The pubs had their heyday from the 1950s to the 1980s, until one by one they were shut down as the road was widened and vehicular traffic increased until the thoroughfare felt more like a highway. Our sole visit to The Fourth Corner in September 2019 saw us participate in an inconclusive drunken discussion of Brexit, Boris Johnson and Donald Trump with an earnest visiting American.

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