102) The Celt of Talbot Street, D1

A bit of a tourist trap, but better priced than others of its ilk. Sam Coll once fell asleep at a table, to the ire of management. Traditional Irish music is performed live 7 nights a week and a decent stew or coddle can warm the weathered traveller. A piano stands proud and flags are aplenty in this patriotic pub. There’s a pair of caged budgies behind the bar for the troubled drinker to contemplate and thus feel less trapped by comparison. An old open fire has been retired and is now covered over by a bench and table. At the back one will find a converted stable for a beer garden which houses yet another piano. Outside the stable is the smoking area which spills onto Beresford Lane much to the annoyance of the neighbours.

Once, on a summer’s night whilst drinking here well past midnight with David Saunders and his Spanish friends, bagpiper Astú began a performance of a lifetime in the laneway. The deafening drone reverberated for hundreds of meters bouncing off windows and doors which resulted in the whole group being permanently ejected. Young barman Donncha has a decent pair of pipes and often bursts into a traditional Irish song behind the bar - singing on the shift, so to speak! In November 2019 he made it as high as the Irish Mirror [1] who reported his roaring rendition of the classic folk song ‘The Rare Auld Times.’ Patrons were treated to his performance as they sipped their slop and tried desperately to join in at the chorus.

FOOTNOTE

[1] https://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/dublin-bartender-celt-bar-talbotstreet-20887428

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