Mar 10, 2022
Chipped enamel lampshades hang low over a counter, salvaged from Gaynor’s shoe shop, now capped by three discreetly assertive tap banks. Shelves are stuffed with Sunlight soaps, Jeyes flats and other ‘where are they now’ household names. ‘I don’t deliberately go out...
Mar 10, 2022
Running over 200 miles from its source to the sea, the Shannon is the longest river in Europe west of the Loire. The town of Athlone lies about half-way down and has been expanding ever since smart-thinking Normans threw a bridge across the river here in the 12th...
Mar 10, 2022
The cover star of Turtle and James’s book, The Irish Pub, Geoff’s popularity is probably due to the success of its eponymous owner at maintaining the essence of the grocery bar which his grandfather, Geoffrey Power, founded here on this site over a century ago....
Mar 9, 2022
Michael Finucane’s great uncle bought the bar from The O’Rahilly, the only leader to die in action during the Easter Rising. It was inevitably a stronghold for Republican get-togethers during the formative years of the new state. Customers sat at the bar and drank...
Mar 9, 2022
Built in 1823, The Criterion Bar was one of the earliest guesthouses to arise upon Ireland’s raggedy Atlantic shores. The Brennan sisters lived here all their lives, taking it in turns to serve from behind the pitch pine counter. Everything was immaculate,...
