Another pub added late to the list as a result of our cloudy recollection of pre 2016. This shady and dingy little pub sits surrounded by a red-light mist in the darkness of night. Guinness can be gotten but craft beer is heavily encouraged so if you’re prone to a good Bishop’s Finger you’ll get a nice wet one here. The building was established in 1856 and was once the home of the Freeman’s Journal - the national newspaper oft mentioned in Ulysses which includes this throw away line: ‘Freeman’s Urinal and Weekly Arsewipe.’ Outside this pub if one looks up to the right over the neighboring building one can see an old crest, was it for Freeman’s?

Nowadays nerds and hipsters intermingle. Bohemianesque-ish. Plenty of ‘trendy’ board games and colourful pictures including: Batman of the comic book sort, and a large Star Wars mural. A fussball table provides entertainment for those sadly inclined. Pitiful sessions of ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ take place for those who suffer from delayed adolescence and enjoy being submissive to a games master. Graffiti is openly encouraged and every single wall, door and lampshade is covered in scrawl. Andrew Stephens and his then girlfriend Michelle O’Connor once declared their love to the world with a blue biro on the back wall. The couple wouldn’t last, but what of the words on the wall? 

According to The Daily Edge, [1] a plucky patron by the name of ‘Philip’ had sex in the toilets and then contributed to the pub’s graffiti by writing in the cubical the following boast: ‘Philip Smith had sex in here, fuckin love this pub!’ The staff replied by writing on the same said cubical: ‘We know you did Philip, but in the 20 seconds it took us to fetch the doorman you had finished!! But fair play, regards, the staff.’

FOOTNOTE

[1] https://www.dailyedge.ie/dublin-pub-sex-graffiti-2226050-Jul2015/

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