166) John J. Hanlon's (now: Grainger’s Hanlon’s Corner) of the North Circular Road, D7

Cavernous traditional local bar [1] with entrances on three separate roads (The North Circular Road, Old Cabra Road and Annamoe Road). Tall windows attract rich rays of sunlight. Admittedly, one's memory of this spot is compromised by our having visited it right after having attended the CCA of Prussia Street (see above), so a certain amount of mild PTSD would have affected our perceptions and thus renders our observations more meagre than they otherwise would have been. A second visit two years later was made tantalizing by the discovery of a single Beamish tap – unfortunately, 'tis but a tease and the false promise of an oasis in a desert, for this spout has long since run dry as dust, despite the best efforts of a pretty and well-meaning barmaid to squeeze just one drop. 

Update as of March 2020: in the midst of the Coronavirus this pub is making a bit of a splash online [2] with their unique ‘Dial-a-Pint’ service. As all other pubs nationwide sit in slumber during the lockdown Grainger’s offers a delivery service of freshly poured pints brought straight to your door (albeit in plastic pint glasses).

FOOTNOTES

[1] This pub features in a half-interesting novel: Another Case in Cowtown by Mel Healy. (Also see footnote to Barbers of Lower Grangegorman). 

[2] Said article may be seen by following this link: https://www.irishpost.com/news/dublin-pub-delivering-freshly-pulled-pints-guinness-coronavirus-pandemic-182302

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