EVERY MATERNITY HOSPITAL SHOULD HAVE A PUB LIKE THIS….
Aug 21st, 2008 by Sean Baite
Frequently, during my occasional trips back to Dublin, I find myself transformed into one of those sort of ex-pats that rattle off letters to the Irish Times once home complaining about everything. Where should I start, Mr. Editor ? - the litter, the general grubbiness, the inflated prices, the standard issue shellsuits, the obese teenagers… On my return to France I save myself the cost of the stamp and just grumble Pete St John’s words to myself and let the ‘gargle dim me brain’. Until my most recent visits the one remaining aspect of Dublin that managed to keep me happy was the fact that of the thousand or so pubs in the city, at least 10% of them were absolute treasures. They are, or were, the places fit to be our ‘real living rooms’ (as the English writer Pritchett, I think it was, remarked on the role of the Dublin pub, at the time reserved for the Dublin male). During my last ten day stretch of moping about Dublin (last April) I noted that cracks were even appearing in this last facade of civilised living in the city.
[Thanks to Dan aka ‘Travors’ for Conway’s photo]
Travors Flickr page
Symptomatic of this tendendy is the case of Conway’s on Parnell Street. As most of you will have noticed, Conway’s has been shuttered up for most of this year and is not, as I write, open as a pub. I discovered this in April when wanting to pop in during an afternoon for a soothing pint. I was appalled at the time and even my French wife (who won’t complain about the one pint less consumed) was flabbergasted on hearing the news. She was astonished that something that in any city in Europe would be seen as a treasure and a piece of living heritage has been let rot for whatever reason it is. I, of course, make a point of always agreeing with my wife (except when sat in my real living room). As to what the reason is for the closure, I found some background through mentions in the Irish Times and through a few other hits from Google. Inevitably - at the root of everything is the over-valuation of every last piece of brick and mortar over there and particularly those pieces with pub licences. The following Times article gives a hint of a byzantine chain of mortgages and re-mortgages appearing to link Conway’s to a pub in Portlaoise and also to a certain kip a couple of doors away : IT article - April ‘08 - Conway’s Legal Dispute Mention of the developers ‘Chartered Land’ being linked to a claim to ownership by a former manager do not do much to reassure me. Chartered Land are behind the proposed redevelopment of the former Carlton Cinema site - which will considerably change the whole block of which Conway’s forms the northwestern corner O’Connell St. development - RTE / John Lewis to anchor Carlton development - IT . From the developer’s pitch for the project, it appears doomed to be baptised ‘The Hanging Gardens of Dubb-a-lin’. Being a confirmed pessimist, I suspect the time has passed in Dublin when you could raise 1.25 Billion euros for a 7 or 8 storey ziggurat cum shopping mall with an art deco cinema facade although I may be wrong. Whether or not Chartered Land manage to begin building, Conway’s does not seem set to re-open for the forseeable. Even if Chartered Land gain ownership of the pub, one would wonder if they would feel inclined to preserve it as a pub - given the scale and height of the proposed project set to surround it.
We’ll probably only see the inside of Conway’s again by closing our eyes and humming a certain Pete St. John song. What do I see with the eyes shut ? I see the dirty facade of the Rotunda opposite, the ‘No Singing’ sign behind the bar, ‘Estd. 1745′ in big lettering along with the claim it was Dublin’s oldest pub. I see expectant fathers taking some sort of epidural - administered in several doses. I see all sorts of people coming through the door, including staff from the Rotunda, giving that mixed type of crowd that made all the best Dublin pubs special. I see Jimmy Rabitte up on a barstool talking to a gaunt aul fella that doesn’t trust the draught yet. Small for a turkey, big for a baby, a bit over the money for a hanging feckin’ garden…
And farewell to Parnell Street’s last redeeming feature.
“And farewell to Parnell Street’s last redeeming feature.” A bit harsh. Still one or two choice spots on Parnell St.
Personally, it always annoyed me that this pub had a sign saying “oldest pub in Dublin”, which it so obviously was not. Surely there would be a preservation order on it.
Dirty,
“still one or two choice spots on Parnell St.”
are ye looking through rose-tinted glasses ? Name a couple pls. IMO, especially from the Parnell monument to where it heads towards Capel St. the place is a f@@@ing planning disaster zone - no head nor tail to it.
The Rotunda was probably the only other one - but as I’m not likely to be giving birth between now and, let’s say, dying - I won’t manage to benefit from the place.
You’re right about the spurious claim - they’ll have to replace that sign with ‘The most re-mortgaged pub in Dublin’. Maybe the year they used (1745 - Culloden) was to boost sales of Scotch.
As to preservation orders, I don’t know if there is one - only pub I’m aware has one is Mulligan’s on Poolbeg St. - though Ryan’s of Parkgate St. may have one too.