The state of Drawda Pubs, an analysis

garrincha62

I have recently conducted a comprehensive inspection of some of the shall we say, less desireable pubs in the town. A sort of anthropological experiment if you will. This is what I found out-

The Well-Since it has changed hands the smell of bleach and the splintered pool cues have disappeared, as has the name. It is now Grennans and seems friendlier to the non-local, though I am yet to be convinced. Still has carpetted floor in the front bar...

Tommy Hannrattys - A room, some 50 somethings, a bar with a bookies nearby. Nice restaraunt upstairs though.

Murphys - Odd place. I suspect strange things go on. Was viewed with suspicion on entry. Low ceilings and a door only locals are allowed enter leaves one edging towards the door after purchasing pint.

Nolans - A Pleasant surprise. Was expecting worse. Didn't feel uncomfortable. A Blues (GAA) pub. Still left after one but could have had another.

Tommys - Rudimentary furnishings, tasteful 1970s decor coupled with accumulation of 1970/80/90s dust and grime. Nice pints. Cool smoking shed. Load of freaks out in the pool room, the type who think it normal to brings ones pool cue to a pub of a Saturday night and not let anyone sit on its chair.

Sarsfields - Aren't Sinn Fein and Celtic great. (note that this is not a question but a statement dressed up as a question. The best response to this is. Yes.) What do you mean you don't believe in the cause??!!! Enjoy lively political philosophy of the SF kind. Nice beer garden and live music at the weekends with open mic nights.

McHughs - Decent spot, live music, sometimes comedy. Not many skangers here. They are across the road in the Saaaarches (see above).

Laurences - Sports bar/Liverpool and Celtic bar. Beside a bookies. Serves pub grub. Opens early and is not uncommon to see tracksuit clad 'sports fans' with bottles of cider standing outside around 11 in the morning of a Saturday. Also has the Cellars Bar, which used to be cool and play good music but has since turned into a disco bar where multicoloured drinks are all the rage and compliment the various shades of cream and white tracksuits the lads who frequent the place don. There must be a test for the ladies to see if you have enough make up on, as they won't let you in unless you are more orange than Reverend Paisley on the Shankill Road on 12 July, which is odd as who'd have thought the republicans would find orange people so attractive?

The New Central - In my humble opinion, the best bar in town. Where else serves cocktails called "A slow f*** by the Tholsel"? Where else do you feel like you are in New York. Karokee galore by men who wear stretched Rolling Stones shirts and sweat alot through obesity. 60 something year old women who sing Patsy Cline songs seriously and more mutton than you can shake a meat cleaver at. The toilets will blind you with their bright lights, think of a toilet, any toilet in Trainspotting. The wallpaper is superb! Books, shelf upon shelf of books.

Bridgeford - <snip>

The Hole in the Wall - Roughest pub in town. Men with moustaches go in there. Women that'd kill you also go in there. It scares me.

Ollies - Local bar for local people who like the smell of stale piss and play darts and like Gary Kelly.

Topshop - Ok for a pint, tough walk uphill.

The Punt - Nice decor though after dark men with check shirts and big belt buckles congregate to play pool and look at girls but not talk to them out of shyness and beat nine bells out of lads who do talk to 'my girl'. Day pint would be my advice.

Trinity Arms - Did I mention that this pub is skobie central? Twinned with the Star Bar which is nearby and lets in the dregs of the dregs for late pints. 'Sure I'll head up the Staaa Baaah for de late pint' is a favourite phrase. Odd place, strange mentality.

Marsh House - I'm not brave enough to go in here for a pint. Don't think I ever will be.


Plan on doing Drogheda pub inspection part II soon, will keep ye informed.

Mr Magnolia

Hi garrincha62,

I've edited a small part of your post to remove a potentially libelous remark. Please consider the content of future 'reviews' carefully. Feel free to PM me if you want to discuss this.

Thanks.

andrew1977

On the other side of things, Gleesons on West Street, serves some of the best beer and pints in Drogheda in my opinion.

Dingatron

Great review there although I'll have to disagree with one of them

Twinned with the Star Bar which is nearby and lets in the dregs of the dregs for late pints.

I've had a few late pints in Star Bar and never had any issues with the people and if anything after an unpleasant experience in Earth recently I even say it's a safer place to have a few drinks. Also the fact there is live music there at the weekends is a plus.

I would agree with a lot of the the other pubs though. Nice bit of research and I'm intrigued with Murphy's now.

gipi

Could someone draw a map for us "blow-ins" so we know where all these esteemed establishments are?
I hadn't heard of half of the pubs on the original list

Hey, maybe we could get a boards pub crawl together...purely for research purposes of course :rolleyes:

Dingatron

Hey, maybe we could get a boards pub crawl together...purely for research purposes of course

+1

Irjudge1

garrincha62 wrote: »

I have recently conducted a comprehensive inspection of some of the shall we say, less desireable pubs in the town. A sort of anthropological experiment if you will. This is what I found out-

The Well-Since it has changed hands the smell of bleach and the splintered pool cues have disappeared, as has the name. It is now Grennans and seems friendlier to the non-local, though I am yet to be convinced. Still has carpetted floor in the front bar...

Tommy Hannrattys - A room, some 50 somethings, a bar with a bookies nearby. Nice restaraunt upstairs though.

Murphys - Odd place. I suspect strange things go on. Was viewed with suspicion on entry. Low ceilings and a door only locals are allowed enter leaves one edging towards the door after purchasing pint.

Nolans - A Pleasant surprise. Was expecting worse. Didn't feel uncomfortable. A Blues (GAA) pub. Still left after one but could have had another.

Tommys - Rudimentary furnishings, tasteful 1970s decor coupled with accumulation of 1970/80/90s dust and grime. Nice pints. Cool smoking shed. Load of freaks out in the pool room, the type who think it normal to brings ones pool cue to a pub of a Saturday night and not let anyone sit on its chair.

Sarsfields - Aren't Sinn Fein and Celtic great. (note that this is not a question but a statement dressed up as a question. The best response to this is. Yes.) What do you mean you don't believe in the cause??!!! Enjoy lively political philosophy of the SF kind. Nice beer garden and live music at the weekends with open mic nights.

McHughs - Decent spot, live music, sometimes comedy. Not many skangers here. They are across the road in the Saaaarches (see above).

Laurences - Sports bar/Liverpool and Celtic bar. Beside a bookies. Serves pub grub. Opens early and is not uncommon to see tracksuit clad 'sports fans' with bottles of cider standing outside around 11 in the morning of a Saturday. Also has the Cellars Bar, which used to be cool and play good music but has since turned into a disco bar where multicoloured drinks are all the rage and compliment the various shades of cream and white tracksuits the lads who frequent the place don. There must be a test for the ladies to see if you have enough make up on, as they won't let you in unless you are more orange than Reverend Paisley on the Shankill Road on 12 July, which is odd as who'd have thought the republicans would find orange people so attractive?

The New Central - In my humble opinion, the best bar in town. Where else serves cocktails called "A slow f*** by the Tholsel"? Where else do you feel like you are in New York. Karokee galore by men who wear stretched Rolling Stones shirts and sweat alot through obesity. 60 something year old women who sing Patsy Cline songs seriously and more mutton than you can shake a meat cleaver at. The toilets will blind you with their bright lights, think of a toilet, any toilet in Trainspotting. The wallpaper is superb! Books, shelf upon shelf of books.

Bridgeford - <snip>

The Hole in the Wall - Roughest pub in town. Men with moustaches go in there. Women that'd kill you also go in there. It scares me.

Ollies - Local bar for local people who like the smell of stale piss and play darts and like Gary Kelly.

Topshop - Ok for a pint, tough walk uphill.

The Punt - Nice decor though after dark men with check shirts and big belt buckles congregate to play pool and look at girls but not talk to them out of shyness and beat nine bells out of lads who do talk to 'my girl'. Day pint would be my advice.

Trinity Arms - Did I mention that this pub is skobie central? Twinned with the Star Bar which is nearby and lets in the dregs of the dregs for late pints. 'Sure I'll head up the Staaa Baaah for de late pint' is a favourite phrase. Odd place, strange mentality.

Marsh House - I'm not brave enough to go in here for a pint. Don't think I ever will be.


Plan on doing Drogheda pub inspection part II soon, will keep ye informed.

Either this is Graham Linehan or a condescending load of old balls.

garrincha62

Bensons

Went into the Marsh House yesterday for a pint. The smell of cigarettes still fresh from the night before. Basic smoking area conveniently located between the keg shed and the jacks. Not sure if there was blood on the walls or it was just where someone was trying to get the red paint off their brush. No red walls in sight though.
Nice pint of Guinness it must be said. Don't think they are used to passing trade. Friendly enough locals, that said, I wouldn't like to go in their with a tight pink T-shirt on a Saturday night around 2300...

garrincha62

Bensons

Irjudge1 wrote: »

Either this is Graham Linehan or a condescending load of old balls.

Obviously Irjudge1, are you a local of one of these reknowned drinking holes?

Irjudge1

garrincha62 wrote: »

Obviously Irjudge1, are you a local of one of these reknowned drinking holes?

I've had a drink in most of them at one stage or another, McHughs would be as close to a local as I have in Drogheda. These pubs for the most part are local pubs around the town where fellas go for a pint to watch football on a saturday, play darts, pool, talk **** and get drunk.

The other pubs which you'll have to visit to complete your list are Corrigans, Nugents Market Bar, The Admirals, O'Caseys, Mother Hughes, The pheasant, Railway Arms, The Windmill House, Barney Macs' (altough I suspect this is what you refer to as "tommy's") The mariner. These pubs are all full of people from drogheda with drogheda accents.

I'm guessing the desirable pubs would be McPhails, Clarkes, possibly gleesons lots of drogheda accents though, Bean Ui Cairbre, The Black Bull. Just out of interest how would you describe these?

goodfecker

Laurences - Sports bar/Liverpool and Celtic bar. Beside a bookies. Serves pub grub. Opens early and is not uncommon to see tracksuit clad 'sports fans' with bottles of cider standing outside around 11 in the morning of a Saturday. Also has the Cellars Bar, which used to be cool and play good music but has since turned into a disco bar where multicoloured drinks are all the rage and compliment the various shades of cream and white tracksuits the lads who frequent the place don. There must be a test for the ladies to see if you have enough make up on, as they won't let you in unless you are more orange than Reverend Paisley on the Shankill Road on 12 July, which is odd as who'd have thought the republicans would find orange people so attractive?

I have to say the above is just written perfectly i couldnt agree more!
Gleesons or Mc phails are the only places in Drawda to drink!! great bar staff (Gleesons) Mc phails can be a bit Rugby"ish" at times and very loud but a good bar none the less

joker1

Hiya, have lived in drogheda all my life and i have not got a clue where the hole in the wall is. where is it?

great reviews

Found the reviews hilarious. Awesome work man!

is_that_so

Dingatron wrote: »

I've had a few late pints in Star Bar and never had any issues with the people and if anything after an unpleasant experience in Earth recently I even say it's a safer place to have a few drinks. Also the fact there is live music there at the weekends is a plus.

Safe OK but also a reminder that you really should have gone home long ago.
Big barn of a place IMO and would a favour my bed over a final pint in "Stahh Bahh":P.
Prefer Gleesons myself where you can have a pint and talk.

Dingatron

Safe OK but also a reminder that you really should have gone home long ago

True but sense is usually out the window at that hour lol.

garrincha62

Bensons

joker1 wrote: »

Hiya, have lived in drogheda all my life and i have not got a clue where the hole in the wall is. where is it?

The Hole in the Wall is the New Centrals Alter Ego. It's right next door. You can usually tell it by the fallen gentry standing outside arguing over fags and horses. It's toilet has a marvelous view as it overlooks the main door and depending on your level of voyeurism/the drunkeness of the clients, you may get a friendly wave from a seated patron with a fag in their hand as you pass...:eek:

Dingatron

Sounds like The Nook?

garrincha62

Bensons

The Admirals

What can you say about the Admirals? With it's superb location, right in the centre of town you'd think it would have more going for it. This is an example of how the smoking ban worked. By forcing the reg'lars onto the alley between the pub and the Augustinian church to have a smoke, the public was forced to see the obvious effects of smoking, and to a lesser degree, gambling. Obviously playing to a specialist market, the alcoholic one, there may be hope for the future. If I were the Admirals marketing executive I would borrow and adapt an old sporting adage, 'you're only as good as your last alco'. New blood is needed!!
If I had kids, I'd warn them...Now look here young Pericles, if you don't study in school you'll end up like them poor feckless alcos in the Admirals...and as we passed them, their pants all stained with spilt beer, their fingers turned yellow with the weed and their gravelly coughs interupting their lofty discussions I would hope me young lad would take heed.

Inside is your bog standard alcos pub. Front bar pleasant enough though light on seatage, the lounge is where the real drinking takes place. Enter at your peril. An alco alcos pub.

garrincha62

Bensons

Irjudge1 wrote: »

The other pubs which you'll have to visit to complete your list are Corrigans, Nugents Market Bar, The Admirals, O'Caseys, Mother Hughes, The pheasant, Railway Arms, The Windmill House, Barney Macs' (altough I suspect this is what you refer to as "tommy's") The mariner. These pubs are all full of people from drogheda with drogheda accents.

I'm guessing the desirable pubs would be McPhails, Clarkes, possibly gleesons lots of drogheda accents though, Bean Ui Cairbre, The Black Bull. Just out of interest how would you describe these?

Yes, I've mapped out the Mariner, Marsh House, Railway Tavern, revisit Topshop, Pheasant and the Thatch and finishing in the cultural haven that is The NEW Central as the next part of my research.

Other routes include The Windmill House, up to Moores (if its still open) and Doyles Corner (shudder), then down to Nugents Market Bar and over to Corrigans via Mother Hughes and then on down to Bensons (with leeway to go to Foleys or if I'm feeling particularly Ben Shermanish, the Trinty Aaaahms).

Route 4 would include McPhails, Clarkes, Carberrys and Bru before the Bling bling music comes on.

Fingers Mcginty

Do you remember the name of the club under the Central ?

garrincha62

Bensons

Fingers Mcginty wrote: »

Do you remember the name of the club under the Central ?

No!! Before my time unfortunately! I think the New Central is a great spot for a decent bar. Was the club under it big?

35notout

Fingers Mcginty wrote: »

Do you remember the name of the club under the Central ?

The Subway with DJ Mark......oh the memories:D

Fingers Mcginty

Hats off :cool: The subway it was. Absaloutely class little spot. Those were the days. Me and my mates were so broke back then we used to buy one pint at the start of the night and progressively top it up with the many hidden ones we smuggled in.

This was one of the mixes he used to play

joker1

Ah thanks for that, garrincha62. I know it well.

The Subway, loved it.

garrincha62

Bensons

O'Caseys used to be a great wee secret. Upstairs you had pool, seats and a jukebox with cool tunes. Downstairs you had a dartboard and a nice telly for the ball. Secrets always get out though and after a few months the amount of rock on the tunebox declined along with the shoe-wearing clientele.

I had been giving O'Caseys a wide berth for the past year or so since a couple of rather unsavoury incidents in the smoking garden. I was wisping away when a howiya of skangers booorst through the doors and sat next to us. Pacifying them with the offer of free fags, my friend and I felt a little more relaxed. A lesson was learned though, never feed the hand that bites you. No sooner had I finished my fraternising and placed my Marlboros on the bench than they were whisked into the pocket of the ringleader. A swift butt to the head was the response my good friend received when he politely asked for the fags back. We left to a cacophony of cackles and tracksuited pigeon breasted posturing. My friend's reaction was stoic, as he is braver than I. His only complaint being that his assailant's oily moustache had brushed his cheek. That feeling makes him shudder to this day...

Word on the street is that the thuggish element has been eased out though (thank you Senor Cruncho Credito). However, with the Trinity Arms closing its doors to the local Ben Sherman population, it was still a risky business. It has yet to be seen whether Bensons and the Staaaaa Baaaa can soak up the deluge of angry Shermans before they reach O'Caseys. However, on passing Bensons, there was enough hooped revellers outside to assuage my initial fears.

On entering the old bar, my first impressions were "This is where I'm watching the Eurovision this year". A delightful cocktail of folk. Seated at the bar you had your resident alcos. In the seats to the left of the door you had a wonderful posse of menopausal frumps in to watch the final of X Factor and up the back there were the sixty year old women with the fake fur coats and ludicrous wigs. Blend this in with Images of Drogheda's bygone glory(?!) and a host of failed Irish rebels. Add a dash of furry wallpaper and carpetted floors. Shake it around a bit and enjoy the soft pour of a delicious cocktail that allows you to drink yourself into a stoupor in comfort, with the option of darts.

The toilets are your bog-standard tile job resplendent with functioning cold tap. No mirrors here chaps (you need to take the passageway to the new bit for that kind of luxury). A remnant from the Celtic Tiger is bolted to the wall, advertising the latest cinema film TEAM AMERICA and selling sheaths. You can also text some number and you get a selection of sluts to display on your phone for only €10 a week. Why bother though, theres plenty of mutton out the back that'll do the job for a sherry and a box of 100s.

The bar staff are friendly and patient, if a little trigger happy on the remote control. If memory serves me correctly, they also used to stock Viaduct beer. A good local brew for those of us whos insides have long since been scraped out. Sadly no longer with us.

If it's a nice quiet spot to gargle in that you're after then I would highly recommend the old part of O'Caseys. Just don't get too drunk or stay too late. I spotted a large bowl behind the bar that was steadily filling up with keys...

WindmillWarrior

Quality reviews garrincha62! you should check out the Widow Murphys on bingo night, a better night you will never have!

Whiskey Devil

garrincha62 wrote: »

Laurences - There must be a test for the ladies to see if you have enough make up on, as they won't let you in unless you are more orange than Reverend Paisley on the Shankill Road on 12 July, which is odd as who'd have thought the republicans would find orange people so attractive?

Genius. :pac:


Great reviews - cheered me right up.


Grennan's is a decent spot for live music at the weekends.. still a few of the less desirable characters hanging around though.

This thread is excellent!

The reviews are great!

garrincha62

Bensons

Delights of the New Central: A Confession

This is a lively town centre pub with live music 7 nights a week. The pub was opened in 1884, by PA Dodd, the prominent architect, whose brother Reubin J Dodd figured prominently in the financial downfall of John S Joyce, father of James Joyce. The town gallows and pillory were located in the street, directly outside the present pub, which is no doubt still frequented by descendents of that poor criminal sub class…

There are few better nights to introduce a pure soul to the depravity of The New Central than Karaoke Night. Last Friday nights forage into the NC was all about recharging the batteries. Like an old Gaelige teacher used to go to the Gweedore Gaeltacht to freshen up, a sup at the teat of the droopy bosom that is Drogheda’s finest was well overdue. It had been too long. Nature takes its course.

So off I went in with the brother. We intended on launching a General Patton style assault on The New Centrals ugly, riddled sister pub, The Hole in the Wall. But with its beady eyed smoking clientele sizing up our runners as we approached we thought we’d hold off until reinforcements were more readily to hand. The Hole in the Wall is about as welcoming as the Northern Irish comedy of the same name is funny.

With varying degrees of trepidation we entered, sporting not one piece of leisurewear between us bedamned! We stank of confidence. Naivety even.

The best seats in the house were still free. Right by the bar where you can see the whites of the karaoke crooners eyes. The afternoon crowd had dwindled down to a balding gent pepping himself up with assorted double vodkas and lucozades and a cackle of desperate locals fabulously dressed in Indian garb. Ignoring the balding ginge and his pelvic led disco forays in the direction of the Poca-horribilus and co, we settled on a Beamish for myself and a Danish for himself.

A quick glance over at the listless slot machine junkies behind the stage didn’t fill me with a lot of hope. However, as car-crash aficionados know only too well, the New Central never fails to disappoint.

It took a second to notice the suave velvet hugging his chicken-legs. His shiny disco ball shirt, (which thanks to his admirable physique, did resemble an actual disco ball) glistened in spite of being dampened with pre-match tension sweat of a champion.
Waddled would be a disservice to the greatest entrance I have seen in any pub. So I’ll go with strutted. The cock of the walk. Gliding by the bookcase wallpaper at the jacks, he swankered down the steps by the slots, lapping up imaginary applause before shimmying like a jazz lord towards the stage. Even a difficult and laborious struggle with the amplifier wires that tangled his approach to the big stage failed to diminish this heroic entrance.

‘Gooooooood evening Ladies and Gentlemen!’ he purred. ‘Lets get this show on the road!,’ before launching into the most interesting version of the Pet Shop Boys classic West End Girls all present have had the pleasure of experiencing....

To summarise so:

Sadly, the delightful oasis of cheap cocktails has dried up…
The beer is as gassy as a slow, tepid Guinness fart…
The locals are plain scary – One lady came up to me and shook my hand for some reason while her tough earringed lover looked on. My bowels rumbled.
The staff are affable enough if a little eager and over curious towards ‘new blood’.
The unbelievably youthful drinkers at the back of the pub are generally quiet and cause no trouble though perhaps I am being snide here as they could be listing the books from the wallpaper and discussing each on its literary merits.

My advice would be to go in to this place half cut, don’t stay too long, and be fearless and nonchalant. If you do this, a better night will simply not be had in the old walled town of Drogheda. Anyone who says otherwise is a liar. Viva Le New Central!!!

Trafford Lad

Great thread! Anyone remember the Sunshine Bar down along the quays? Opposite where Scotch Hall is now

kbell

Yip.
Usually started fri and sat nights off there.
Great place.