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This pub by the River Liffey takes its name from John William Sweetman, a brewer who started his beer production in the city in 1756. By the 1820s, his brewery was producing nearly as much as Guinness, although it’s fair to say that the latter have now taken something of a lead. There’s a micro-brewery in the pub today, so the tradition continues in at least some form.

We arrived at the pub without a reservation, something which was slightly aspirational as it was a Friday night and it was busy throughout Dublin. We had a wait of a few minutes, but a friendly staff member came over to help us, although she wasn’t sure if there was any seating available. She returned promptly, but she seemed a little nervous at the table that she found us as this was on the first floor and underneath the television. This didn’t sound ideal at first, but it was a perfectly decent place to sit with plenty of space and it wasn’t that near to the television which was showing some random sport.

We passed this on the way up….. This is very Dublin.

Our seating area had an excellent view of the upstairs bar. Most of the customers in the pub seemed to be dining and the menu did look to be quite interesting, with numerous beer pairings with the food. If it wasn’t for my wanting to visit other pubs in the city, I’d have been quite content to spend the entire evening here, it was all quite convivial.

I had hoped to try one of the brewery’s two stouts, the Dublin Porter and the Irish Dry Stout, but they were both unavailable.

Instead I went for the brewery’s Irish red ale and the West Coast pale ale, which were both perfectly acceptable beers that I’d order again. Both reasonably priced and I realised how much Dublin bars and pubs like to use beer mats on tables, something that seems much rarer now in English pubs.

The reviews of the pub are nearly all positive, although I like replies such as:

“However, after speaking to our staff in detail, some other aspects about the situation came to light & we feel that it was handled correctly on the day.”

As I’m sure that there’s an awesome story there about some ridiculous customer behaviour….

“Sadly I’ve always wanted to visit Ireland and my first pub experience I encountered the rude bar staff who refused to make me a black velvet. Not only refused, but chastised me for putting cider with the sacred Guinness, forcing me to make my own drink…”

Good, I wouldn’t have made one either. Customers can make their own ridiculous cocktails…..

“I went up to order a drink and asked the barman if they had the new Amstel Radler yet … he responded by telling me that they would never be getting any gimmicky drinks like that in stock and went on to brag about how their beers were made.”

Well, the barman has a point….

“It was €8 here for a bottle of gluten-free Peroni. To give some context, they’re four for €10 in supermarkets”

It’s almost like supermarkets are cheaper than pubs…

I have no idea though what the pub did to annoy this customer:

“As disappointing as gout”.

In a couple of weeks, this pub will have a different feel on a weekend evening when the table service rules are lifted. They’ll be able to get more people in at the bar which will make it easier to get into venues, but I have to say that I’m pleased that we visited when we did. Friendly service, a clean environment and a relaxed atmosphere, all really rather lovely.

Located near to our hotel (as in where Liam and I were staying, I haven’t bought a hotel in the Republic of Ireland) on O’Connell Street is the Spire of Dublin, constructed here between 2002 and 2003. It’s certainly a noticeable structure in the city, replacing Nelson’s Pillar which was located here between 1809 and 1966, when it was blown up by the IRA. It would have been challenging to have had such a sign of British imperial rule in the heart of Dublin, but it is a little sad that the stone structure was destroyed in the way that it was. At least there is something here now, as the space was pretty much left empty after the Irish Army removed the remains in 1966.

Up close… There is some sort of design going on in the lower part of the structure, but it’s not particularly creative and there’s no way of going up the spire internally, so it is a little pointless (although perhaps not literally….). It has attracted numerous nicknames, including the Spire in the Mire, as well as some rather less polite names.

The observant might be able to see the spire in this photo….. I have no idea why the city has decided not to better illuminate this iconic structure, that does seem like an omission to me. Nonetheless, I do still like it, although I’m not sure how well it fits into the Dublin skyline and how relevant it is to nearby buildings, not least the General Post Office which has such an important history.

And another post of mostly photos….. I have been to Dublin Zoo before, but it was years ago and I’ve forgotten most of it. We pre-purchased tickets on-line so that Liam and I could explore the site and were a little disappointed to find out on arrival that all of the indoor areas were closed. That meant no snakes….

There’s a one-way system in place around the zoo so it isn’t possible to double back at all to see any animals that might initially be hiding. Liam and I were getting pre-annoyed at this (well, I was, Liam seems to be nearly impossible to annoy) as I was thinking we might have paid an admission fee to see a pheasant, a zebra and a cow. I accept that zebras are lovely, but I wanted some variety to the proceedings.

Fortunately, we weren’t disappointed and it took us three hours to meander around the zoo’s sort of clearly laid out one-way system. There was very little we felt that we didn’t see, just snakes and the hippos, but that’s not bad in the circumstances. The highlights were the gorilla sitting just a short distance away, the wolf that I think liked me (I wanted to keep him) and the chimps that were playing on their island. There were also lots of light decorations around the park which must have cost a fortune, but added to the spectacle somewhat and would look spectacular at night.

So, a very enjoyable way to spend a few hours and we were pleased that we went. The zoo does lots for conservation and they’re proud of their work, which is described on numerous boards around the site. The one-way system was just slightly confusing in places, but not so much as to become annoying. The zoo seemed to have balanced quite well having sufficient visitors to make money whilst not overloading the park making it difficult to see anything.

I visited this pub a few years ago, but I thought that Liam would want to visit one of the most traditional pubs in Dublin this weekend. We tried to get into this pub on the Saturday evening, but they were full, so we visited on Sunday afternoon and we managed to be the first customers in for the day.

Not quite as atmospheric as the previous evening when the pub was full, but the barman was welcoming and conversational, so it all felt inviting. The barman scanned our NHS Covid passes successfully and mentioned that this was changing soon as the rules in Ireland are being relaxed next week. As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, there’s something quite convenient for customers in being welcomed at the entrance though…..

Lots of heritage here and once frequented by James Joyce, the pub has been at this Poolbeg Street location since 1854, although it has been expanded a couple of times. There’s no television or other modern distractions, although the pub does now take credit and debit cards, so there’s some progress. As for modernisation, there’s no point moving towards the craft beer market and on-trend interiors, this is a pub which is based on Guinness, conversation and crisps. OK, perhaps not the crisps, but they do sell them and I think that’s pretty much the only food offering here.

We went for a pint of Guinness each, which was reasonably priced, was at the appropriate temperature and tasted just as it should. The reviews on-line are all generally very positive, mostly mentioning the engaging service, the quality of the Guinness and the heritage of the surroundings. There have only ever been four 1-star ratings on TripAdvisor for this pub and two of them relate to a different venue with the same name, showing just how bloody useless that web-site is…. Anyway all really rather lovely and I can see why John F Kennedy is said to have enjoyed his visit here and I like the thought of him walking towards the bar.

I’ve never been to this Dublin pub before in my past visits to the city, which the owners claim is the oldest in the country. The claims that it has been a pub since 1198 are quite fanciful, but these have at least definitely been licensed premises since the mid-seventeenth century. There’s more information about the pub and its history on Wikipedia, which is probably as good an introductory resource as any other on this matter.

The pub is very well reviewed on-line and so Liam and I decided to go there after our little visit to the Guinness Storehouse, as even if the oldest pub claim is questionable, there’s still plenty of heritage here.

There are lots of banknotes attached to the pillars and ceiling, mostly American, and I can see why this atmosphere appeals to those from the United States (not least because it appeals to me).

Slightly dark, cluttered and packed with atmosphere, even on a Friday afternoon. Nice, there was no shortage of traditional Irish pub feel here, suitable for locals and visitors. It was also a sizeable pub, so although it was busy internally and externally, it’s worth turning up to try and get a table. The pub doesn’t take bookings for group sizes of under four, so we did as they suggested and just turned up. We were taken to a seat in front of the bar by a friendly man at the main door (who was a staff member, I realise that might sound like a random person just pointed us towards a table), it was suitable for our needs and I liked that I could easily see the options at the bar. We didn’t have to wait outside at all, although there was a queue by the time that we were leaving.

We had looked at the menu on-line in advance (which was very efficient of us), so we were ready with our orders. The staff in the pub were friendly and engaging throughout, it was a welcome and comfortable environment.

The pub had some beers by Rye River Brewing and although the beer list we were given didn’t mention a stout from this brewery, I asked about it as I could see it on the bar. The staff member checked for me and they did indeed have this Eventide Irish Stout, which was new on in the pub and seems also to be something recent for the brewery itself as I was only the ninth person to add it on Untappd. It was a decent beer, a little creamier than Guinness, although that was available as well for the customers who wanted it.

I went for the fish and chips, with that smear of peas looking slightly odd perhaps. However, looks are deceptive, they were some of the best tasting peas that I’ve had, with the chips being rather delicious, firm on the exterior and fluffy inside. The fish had a rich tasting batter and the fish itself was appropriately cooked and the tartare sauce was I think homemade. I should probably dwell on those peas though, my food knowledge isn’t good enough to know what they’ve done to make them so moreish…..

Liam’s sausage and mash, which he said was also really rather lovely. The cuisine here is certainly above average and there were no shortage of other customers ordering food, with everything brought out promptly.

I’m not normally a dessert person, but we felt that we deserved a little treat and so we had a Baileys cheesecake each, served with compote and ice cream. The pub only serves two different desserts and they were both tempting options, with the other being a chocolate fudge cake.

I looked through the reviews, which are some of the best for any pub in the city, and I liked the:

“Complained and mentioned that we were not tourists and stressed that the chef must be informed”.

I’m not sure that the chef was informed…. I mention this as I thought it was evident during our visit that tourists and locals were treated the same way. Although another review was posted which said “The staff is rude….they hate Americans” which seems unlikely to be true….

“After a long day on excursions, we came across this pub. The place was packed!!!!! We tried to go in and wait for a table (which you do by yourself, with no help from a host or anything…)”

This 1/5 review was posted by an American in early March 2020, just before the crisis started to unfold. It’s interesting as there is compulsory table service in Dublin at the moment, which makes things much easier at busy pubs such as this for the reason that this reviewer alluded to. I rather hope that some form of helping customers to find a table is maintained to some degree in the future across the hospitality industry. Another review said:

“We were shocked that after singing together some Irish and Scottish folk songs, one of our party when going to bar again was told none of our party were getting served again. It seems sing-songs are not liked or permitted in this bar”.

Good, I like the pub even more now. Otherwise, reviews are pretty standard, but there are a few claiming that the staff were hateful that I somewhat suspect was the Irish humour that has been misinterpreted by the individual….

The prices weren’t the cheapest, but this was an excellent visit and met our expectations. I liked the environment, the service and the food and drink, with the historical atmosphere adding positively to the whole arrangement. I’d definitely go back again, although I imagine that this pub can often get very busy, and we were suitably pleased with our choice.