Notorious reputation as one of Ireland’s roughest pubs. Killings, shootings, stabbings and even an ear bitten off are among the incidents that have taken place here [1]. Charmingly however, the locals call the pub ‘A1’ - a nod to Georgey Burgess of Snapper fame. One can even see ‘A1’ written on the exterior. Apart from this detail, we found an obnoxious and sinister exterior consisting of cold granite and a dark aspect. Our fear somewhat dissipated once within, but it was a Monday afternoon, so perhaps we were subjected to a less obvious threat and missed the skullduggery afoot of a weekend. We were able to take a Beamish which was bonding at €4.35 a pint. On receipt of the exact amount tendered in coinage a friendly barman proclaimed with gusto ‘cash is king!’

We witnessed a demon who sat behind us, cursing with vile venom at another fellow who dared to banter with him about football. It’s very much a Manchester United pub unfortunately, lots of paraphernalia adorn the walls. A noteworthy centre section is partially enclosed where one can sit with one’s back to the bar (as shown above in our hastily taken photo such was our fear of being caught and outed and lynched). Some fella went on at length about his meeting with Taoiseach Michael Martin and yer man in Dáil Éireann - no, the Park, no wait, what’s his name - Higgins!

FOOTNOTE

[1] One may follow the links for articles related to the above mentioned crimes:

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/man-who-bit-off-another-mans-ear-in-pub-smoking-area-jailed-for-five-years-36377836.html

https://www.sundayworld.com/crime/courts/man-jailed-for-two-years-for-stabbing-soldier-seven-times-with-broken-bottle/40027406.html

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/gardai-patrol-ifsc-to-stop-more-blood-on-the-streets-26440202.html

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