381) The Old Stand of Exchequer Street, D2

For some reason we had avoided it for years, perhaps fearing costliness - in this respect we weren’t wrong. Guinness goes for €6 - go figure. Glorious panoramic views through the window of both Wicklow Street and Exchequer Street will make it worthwhile. Great lamp visible too. Horseshoe bar. Nice clock and lots of glitter. General smell of money and indigestion. Mermaids. Chandelier. Plush lighting. Floral lampshades. Dumb Waiter for smart food. Michael Collins apparently used this place as a headquarters back in the day - them must have been the days. Sloppy pints poured - you pay extra for the froth on top that goes missing! The toilets for penis-owners are subterranean, with entry obtained via a steep stairwell strictly for Richard Crookbacks or Quasimodos. The beehive mosaic on the floor is very beguiling.

One can spit the distance to The International over the road. The Old Stand has two separate rooms which feel like two separate pubs. Their website describes the bar thusly: ‘The Old Stand is one of Dublin’s most favoured social haunts, being a traditional pub which has been located on this site in Exchequer Street the last 350 Years. With an abundance of old world charm, this pub is a warm, chatty, convivial pub…‘ - not much to quibble about here, but its lack of Beamish and prohibitive prices make it a regular sipping haunt for the affluent only.

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