First came those skinny hardcover books such as The Little Red Hen, Rapunzel, and Puss in Boots et al published by Ladybird, which were soon followed by the outlandish rhythmic writing of Dr. Suess and others. Even back then, books were for me a form of escapism on wet and dreary weekends, or dark weekday evenings. I’d sit in an armchair in the kitchen beside the always-lit stove, reading them repeatedly as my mind drifted into the scenes depicted on the pages, where I became a participant in whatever story was unfolding in the pages. Growing older I never lost that ability to fall into a book, even when the illustrations disappeared and were replaced by fanciful descriptions - my imagination coping admirably with the scene being painted as I read all of those well-chosen words. For a good few years I practically lived and dreamed in the world of Tolkien’s Middle Earth, as the incredible tales in all of his books had me wandering over shires and scrambling up snow-capped peaks, or getting lost in deep-dark places. That world, and others, were places to escape into and perhaps even exist in, however briefly. I quickly became a fan of science fiction too and I was strangely drawn to the worlds literally created by Bob Shaw for one. Alan Dean Foster, Terry Pratchett and other purveyors of pure and perfect fiction also graced my bookshelves over the years although in recent decades my fiction tastes have moved on - or perhaps evolved - towards those of a more historical bent, or those by writers such a John Connolly or James Lee Burke, whose books occasionally waver wonderfully into the world between the real and the supernatural, but I still occasionally dip back in the realm of pure fantasy in all of those books from my teenage years, most of which I still possess, as is the affliction of the Collector-stroke-Hoarder.
Fiction and fantasy have their place in our lives as a source of entertainment and diversion, they are useful for many of us as a form of escapist therapy and a way to cocoon yourself in the words and worlds of comfort and imagination. But they are only stories. For sure, some may be loosely based on fact or are anchored back to a real-life event, even though the story itself wanders to a made-up world where dragons take flight, elves and goblins are at constant war, and unicorns do, well, whatever unicorns do in these places, which is usually just to exist. But we know these stories and fairytales not to be true, as they are outlandish by nature, or speak of things we know to be false, and we are all okay with that and can easily discern the facts from the fiction. These are tales, and not mistruths.
The issue is with narratives that purport to be true, stories that are based on some fact but sadly don’t contain those dragons, unicorns or elves, which would mark them as pure fantasy. These are the stories which began as a misunderstanding or a little marketing-driven truth-stretching, and which are then repeated so often that they become fact to most people, or to a point where people don’t really question them or care if they are true or not.
Add to this the fact that we Irish have a wealth of old stories and ancient sagas both in print and in the oral tradition of storytelling, and we love to repeat and revel in them, as we really, really love a good mythical tale. Perhaps this goes part of the way to understanding the acceptance and non-questioning repetition of the tales and legends that surround Irish brewing, its output, and of course our public houses.
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I know. We’ve been here before many times. I’ve repeated - although I’d argue for the word reinforced - much of it to a small if patiently attentive audience previously. I’ve rattled a sabre and gnashed my teeth on how we really don’t care about our true brewing and pub history in this country, although that’s probably a little unfair as we have been fed those same stories for a few generations in some cases so they are now just ingrained. It also means that newer beer-related enterprises are happy enough to create a story around a brand as long as there is a hint of truth to it – fakelore has become the norm. I’m sure that similar issues exist in other countries but Ireland’s recorded brewing and beer history doesn’t appear to go back as far as that of other countries, so it therefore left a smaller mark on our social timeline and written works. Although some of our commercial breweries were established in the 1700s, many were formed in the mid-1800s, and our now remaining beer brands are a good deal younger. Prior to that I think our drinking history was quite attuned to wine and strong spirits, with commercial brewing being encouraged in this country from the 18th century to wean the native population off the latter. (That’s a bit of a generalisation and not to say we didn’t have a huge amount of beer here in the previous centuries, we probably did, but our love for it seems to have gone through in waves perhaps?) Many other countries appear again to have had more a longevity of commercial brewing as well as a greater number of actual breweries that survived up until relatively recently, where we have not. Plus, with the serving of that beer the history of their hostelries and inns presumably has a longer timeline than ours, with more recorded history too given larger populations and more publications. Very early drinking establishments here seem to have been fonder of serving beverages other than beer (although the obviously served some) thanks perhaps to the legacy of the Norman’s fondness for wine and our own need for whiskey, plus possibly the lack of decent beer at that time? It is certainly an area for separate research and study for a later date, but this might explain place names such as Winetavern Street in Dublin and why our public house organisation is known as The Vintners Association. (Even what I’ve written here is splattered with question marks and words like 'perhaps' to as there are certain things I can't say with 100% authority, mainly because I am not one.)
That depth of knowledge and the records that exist in other countries means that research and therefore the writing of their brewing history is a little easier than here. I’m sure many beer writers elsewhere would say there is not enough in their countries either, but in relative terms it appears (yet again) at least that it is easier to trace the history of breweries, pubs and beer in general elsewhere than on the island of Ireland. Here we have very few viewable brewing records, very little written history on breweries with the exception of the few bigger ones, and almost nothing with any detail on the history of inns and public houses apart from a couple of notable exceptions. Irish breweries have been reduced to a dubious brand within larger organisations, and the actual range of their output in the past has been forgotten or sometimes just ignored. The same is true of much of the beer retailing side of the sector, including the history and provenance of our public houses. Perhaps in other countries, the depth of their recorded history and facts means there’s less of a need to generate a heritage around a beer brand, recreate the past of a brewery, or embellish the history of a public house - although in truth the latter clearly seems to be an issue in other places as well as here, as I’m sure many will attest to.
Post-truth seems to many of us to be a new phenomenon in our culture and most think it has been forced upon us by social media and ersatz news feeds, but post-truth as a concept appears to have been around for quite a long time in regard to Irish brewing, and its ancillary dependents.
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I’ve dealt with the stories generated around Irish brewing before, and specifically with those surrounding the now - sadly - closed Smithwick’s brewery in Kilkenny for example. A short summation of my findings based on the available (to me) information is that I can find no definitive published source to prove the assertion that John Smithwick started a brewery in Kilkenny in 1710, I fact I can only find evidence to the contrary. There is little doubt that there was a John Smithwick in Kilkenny at this time, he’s even buried there, but - for example - his descendant Walter Smithwick in a talk given the local archaeology society in 1960 stated that ‘there are no records to show his precise business’ in 1710 when he arrived in the city. The famous lease that is talked about with regard to the partnership between Richard Cole and John Smithwick does not appear in any common source, and the lease of the land by Cole (only) that is on display at the Smithwicks’s Experience clearly is for a site nowhere near the purported site of the brewery at that time, as it is for a site near the Black Abbey close to the Breagagh river. The well-respected history writer Thomas Halpin stated in 1989 in an article for the Old Kilkenny Review that here was ‘no evidence available as to how [a] mercantile partnership between Messrs. Cole and Smithwick progressed.’ We can also note that the famous 1710 date only appeared at the end of the 19th century, which seems late for such a date to be first mooted, especially considering the stored and accumulated knowledge within the family. The first mention of a Smithwick’s brewery is when Edmond acquired the site near St. Francis Abbey - although not the actual abbey itself - in 1827 and converted it from a distillery, which is what it was according to advertisements for its sale, into a brewery and began brewing beer there. There is often mention of the penal laws but Edmond and his father John before him (a grandson of the original John) were merchants and owned property without any issue up to this time. There is also evidence to suggest that the original John wasn’t a catholic anyway, so the penal laws would not have impacted him depending on when and if he converted of course. If we are looking for published proof about their being a Smithwick’s brewery in or since 1710 it appears to be entirely lacking.
The reason I bring this up (Again!) is because if there were definitive proof would it not be in the public realm? Instead of talking portraits on a wall of there would be, the less entertaining and marketable I’ll admit, peer-reviewed papers on the history of the brewery, or fully referenced books on the subject. If there are then I can find none, which doesn’t mean they don’t exist admittedly. Is the absence of evidence enough to say something isn’t true? That’s a question for wiser minds than mine to debate …
Now, what if we applied the same criteria for public houses and their founding dates? What are the facts, as published or recorded or reported, that the now-told history was originally anchored to? We need to base the discussion on those published facts as we know them, excluding those used purely for marketing purpose where there is no commonly known source or reference for said information. I am assuming that if there was a defined historical source for any of this information it would be being linked to and touted by those responsible for the marketing, there would surely be clearly referenced articles and probably books written about the history of these places too. I am not setting out to disprove anything I should say, I'm more so trying to lay out the information I have found for you to make up your own mind or continue the research from where I leave off. I will also make a few suggestions on what I think may have happened earlier in a buildings life but I will try my best to not gallop through the facts on a unicorn. As you have seen, I use the word 'perhaps' quite a lot ...
But first we - or I - need to set the criteria for what constitutes ‘oldest pub’, and for this exercise I can keep it as relatively simple as having much of its structure dating from the period it purports to be from, and to have been in pretty much continuous use as an establishment that served beverages from that date to the present day. The name can have changed, as can its general purpose, so an inn, tavern, hotel, etc. can all be taken as a place that served alcoholic drink. These are my criteria for this exercise although I am sure that others would have differing opinions, and 'much of its structure' is very much open to interpretation admittedly, but it can be assessed case by case. Either way it would be impossible to argue a point without some rules, and those seem the best compromise to my mind at least.
Perhaps an interesting analogy for my thought process is that if you plant a tree on the site of one you cut down or died, does it take on the years of the previous tree? Or is it in fact a new tree with its own growing to do ...
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There is that grey area for many as to the question of whether a rebuilt pub is the age of its first founding versus the age it is from its last rebuild, and it can be seen as subjective in truth. A good example of this conundrum would be The Palace Bar in Dublin, which, by the way, is a wonderful example of an Irish urban pub. That establishment was completely rebuilt in 19001, with the then owner Patrick Hall operating from 1 Burgh Quay while it was being erected. The ‘complete transformation of the old establishment’ was done by July of the following year2 and it reopened ‘after rebuilding’ on the 10th of July 19013, making it Edwardian if one was to be a pedant about it, but certainly of late Victorian design and fair to be classed as that. This public house recently celebrated its bicentenary, and I don’t know of its complete earlier history, although there are plenty of mentions of it being a public house in the 19th century, and a Thomas Corcoran was letting it as ‘A Public House’4 as early as 1828 so the date of 1823 could well be correct for the site, even to there also seems to be a piano seller at that address at that date (But we must remember that these sites had more than one floor, so multiple business could exist at the same address.) Could it be argued that a centenary celebration in 2001 would have been more appropriate - and accurate - where the architecture and fittings from that truly wonderful era at the turn of the century could be justly highlighted, celebrated and appreciated? Maybe, and indeed it is no doubt because of these ‘airy, lofty, palatial’ alterations as they were called in a newspaper’s ‘obituary’ to the old building, that the premises gained its moniker5, and this should be a story in itself. (By the way, there seems to be an obsession in this country with giving the label ‘Victorian’ to our pubs, when it could be argued that those of the Edwardian era are by far the more detailed, interesting and salubrious, to my eye at least.)
Given how that business changed hands and the relatively recent ability to search online records and old newspapers at ease, it’s more that possible that there was no awareness of this significant date of 1901 in the recent past, so if the general story passed down was that the premises, or indeed the license, dates from 1823 and the plot of land is the same then there are those who could certainly argue that the age of the pub as an entity is from that earlier date. And in fairness, even the National Built Heritage Service6, is a little vague on the buildings date, giving it as 1880 to 1900, which is close, although they state ‘c.1890’ which it clearly is not and as we can see, a reminder that the term ‘circa’ should be taken as that, and not as a verbatim date. But none of this takes from the bar itself, which I freely admit now is one of my favourites in the city. I say all of this just as an example of things can become more than a little confused without researching and knowing the full history of a premises, and it seems that even such excellent sources as the NBHS can be slightly wrong in some cases. (As another example, I have previously spotted7, that The International Bar is stated to having built in 1911 by the NBHS when according to newspaper reports that seem quite iron clad it was built in 1898, unless it was torn down and rebuilt a little over a decade later, which is possible but doubtful?)
The truth is that with all of this confusing information we need to thread carefully, with or without carrying a big stick. All I can do is look at the information that exists for the armchair researcher, based on online sources, and published books and newspapers available to me with ease. As mentioned already, what has changed in the last few years is the ability to do real research from that armchair given the huge volume of online material now available, with some publications going back centuries. It is possible now to find information that was lost or missing just a few years ago, so certain omissions or confusions from the past were understandable and almost acceptable in many cases, and I'm not here to point fingers in any direction.
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So, back to the oldest pubs in Ireland discussion and we shall stay in Dublin, and venture to The Brazen Inn, which claims on its website has been a ‘hostelry’ since 1198, although it does state the present building was built in 1754 as a coaching inn, but that The Brazen head appears on documents back to 1653, and adds that a Christopher Quin fitted out the inn with rooms and a large cellar in the 1750s – and that would appear to be its full history as given by the business online. It is also commonly reported that the words ‘John Langan halted here 7th August 1726’ are etched into a window on the premises but I cannot see an image online for verification although it is mentioned quite often, as are other comments stating that it actually says ‘John Lonergan’ and ‘1786’ so we can’t base anything on these dates, and we can immediately see how confusion can reign in these cases, as well as the limitations of home research - I can’t quickly nip out with a magnifying glass and check the inscription! – but the later dates seems more accurate perhaps, given that that coaching inn dates from the 1750s according to the pub itself.
A lot has been written about The Brazen Head both online and in paper-published form, and much of the more recent pieces on the internet and social media seem to just regurgitate something written by others, or just quote the pubs website. But luckily there are quite a few works with historical notes and commentary too. One of the best I have found is a paper called The Brazen Head Re-Visited by Timothy Dawson8, which he read to The Old Dublin Society in 1971 before it being subsequently published. It goes into great detail with regard to the site where the pub now stands and mentions that the name The Brazen Head dates to at least 1613, but also states that this is in a legal claim from 1700 which just references the older date. There is no mention of the words ‘The Brazen Head Inn’ until 1754 in that Timothy Dawson piece, when it is referenced in a lease description. Plus, a year later it was mentioned as ‘the new Brazen Head Inn’, a quotation which could be taken to mean a new inn or a new version of the inn in fairness.
‘The Brazen-Head in Bridge-Street’ is mentioned in newspapers as early as 1705 where a Mr. Hollingsworth seemingly kept a ‘hard-ware-house’ there9 and although it certainly wasn’t unusual for individuals to operate temporary businesses from inns, a hardware supplier is strange, although he seems to have dealt in smaller items like knifes, buckles, and ‘cizzars’! But it was more likely that he operated from a warehouse at the front of the premises, as there were certainly such a structure there around that era, and later - keep in mind that the original building is set well back from the street. (Seemingly, there was also a Brazen-Head on Dames Street in Dublin in 1711 so care must be taken on references.10)
The earliest mention I can find in newspapers for an inn on the site is for a James Rose of the city of Dublin who …
… at very great expense, has furnished, in the genteelest and most commodious manner, the Brazen-Head Inn in Bridge-Street, Dublin, it being a most compleat new-built House, containing thirty rooms, and stables for an hundred horses; he has also laid in a large stock of the best of wines, and all sorts of spirituous liquors of the neatest kinds; and as he intends that no care, diligence or expense shall be wanting on his part, to render his accommodations agreeable, hopes that all gentlemen, merchants and others, who will be pleased to favour him with their custom, shall meet with the greatest satisfaction; and as it will be for his own interest, so it shall always be his constant endeavours to merit continuance of their favour.11
Fine words indeed and the words new-built ring out, although the dates don’t quite match up with the prescribed history it is possible and likely that Mr. Rose took over the business from that Mr. Quin, who built the building a couple of years previously. (Online newspaper sources tend to miss out certain years, including that one unfortunately - and frustratingly!)
The building has been altered and added to over the years but the structure of the original inn appears to remain. That first 1750s structure is set back from the street, as mentioned, and there was still that warehouse in front of it in the mid-1800s. The inn itself seems to have been expanded and ‘much improved and enlarged' in 1890 when it was called the Brazen Head Hotel and comprised numbers 19, 20 and 21 Lower Bridge Street12 although this was split soon after with 19 and 20 becoming Doherty’s Hotel and the Brazen Head, the 'back portion of the concerns’ being given up by Mr. Doherty – so it appears that two separate inn-like businesses operated on and around the site at this time, which is a good example as to how the architecture and provenance of these buildings can be confusing, (Indeed the numbers on the street move around a bit too, something that was common enough but meaning that the establishment can be found in connection with two street numbers, as number 31 became number 20 in 1844.)
Interestingly, in Irwin's Historical and Descriptive Guide to Dublin published in 1853 an advertisement for the hotel sets the established date as 1710, although sadly no history is listed. I’ve also seen the date 1668 quoted as well as 1666 and that it was originally called the Standfast Inn with a date of 1210. In Rare Old Dublin: Heroes, Hawkers & Hoors Frank Hopkins states that the first mention was in 1613 in a fine levied on the property, which is the mention already noted above although as stressed it is a reference to 1613 made at a later date. Although both Frank Hopkins and Timothy Dawson call the building an inn he quotes from a court paper in 1703 that clearly states it was ‘a large timber house’ which given this was an area of merchant’s house as per the same source, it sounds like it may have been just that, a house and not an inn at that time? Although at this period some houses were beginning to convert their lower floor for shops and other similar uses and, confusingly, inns were also just called houses so it's difficult to assess in any definite way.
One of the most prolific statements is that the present structure dates from that 1668 date, but we can clearly see that this isn’t the case, a William Withering or Witherington or Witheringham was the alleged owner at that time but, frustratingly, I can find no original sources for this claim, just repeated mentions - which doesn’t mean they don’t exist of course, it just means I cannot find them!
Nor can I see any reliable, definitive evidence for the 1198 claim other than there is an implication that there would have been an inn somewhere around there give that this was seemingly a place where the Liffey was crossed and was just inside the city walls? There is mention of the Steadfast Inn I referenced above existing in 1210 and another in the general area, but I can’t see any proof of location or even there actual existence.
There is no doubt that there was a structure on or near the site but I can’t find evidence as to what it was apart from being a building called The Brazen Head, whether this was an inn, a private house or a completely different business - most business back then used signs, not just inns. Even the mention by Jonathan Swift in a published letter written in 1727 mention, ‘Here only, at the sign of the Brazen Head, are to be sold places and pensions: beware of counterfeits, and take care of mistaking the door,’ which is extremely unhelpful. Plus if this is the basis for the suggestion he frequented the place as an inn it seems pretty unreliable.13
But much of this is irrelevant in any case, as based on my original criteria of the date of the structure being key to my interpretation of the age of the pub, it dates from at least 1756 when it was listed as new built, or more likely 1754 if I could see the lease that is mentioned or the quoted advertisement. It is certainly a place of huge interest and of historical note, especially the original structure to the rear - as the stone castle-like structure to the front is much more recent. There was certainly another structure on Bridge Street called The Brazen Head before this time but I sadly couldn’t find mention from first-hand sources that that building was also definitely an inn, although it is quite possible it was, or became one. But regardless, from the information I have gleaned during this research even the later building has a fascinating, enthralling and real story that could and should - and perhaps is - being told. Its 250 year old history is certainly of huge significance to both historians and the more curious members of the general public.
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The other hyped oldest Irish pub is of course Sean’s Bar in Athlone, and whereas there is the world of information about the site of The Brazen Head there is very little written information on Sean’s Bar prior to the last few decades. This is partly due to the huge population differences and interest in Dublin and its specific built heritage versus Athlone's (although there is a lot of general writing about the town itself) and also because Sean’s Bar’s claim is relatively new. It proves how frustrating it is to track down and confirm information about certain structures and businesses in this country without trawling through deeds and other lists of information in record offices, which is what an actual historian would do of course! What can be very exasperating is the lack of information from independent sources, and in the case of this bar it all seems to revolve around repetitive write-ups, fairly recent interviews and the very basic information given by the pub itself rather than historical records.
(For clarity, James Wright of Triskele Heritage has written a piece about the bar which I will link to at the end of this piece, and I will try to add to, and not derive, information from that article although there is obviously a little overlap with my findings.)
From ground floor level Sean’s Bar doesn’t seem very old, especially given the name and the relatively plain facade, unadorned apart from some modern signage and those pillars that were - fun fact - moved from Gill’s bookshop in Dublin and stuck to the front of the building in the 1970s by the then owner Sean Fitzsimons, who took over the bar from original Sean who the place was named for - Sean O’Brien.14 That appearance is certainly in its favour as it hasn’t plastered a faux old-world look onto the frontage to make it appear old in a contrived manner. The bar is just one side of a larger, complete, asymmetrical building, which we will look at later, and it sits on Main Street on the Roscommon side of Athlone, quite close to the castle site.
The older name most associated with the building is that of The Three Blackamoors Heads Inn or various versions of the same name. (Please note that I use name not to cause offense, but for descriptive historical accuracy.) A Jacob Jacques or Jacob James15 appears to have had an inn or hotel on that side of the river in the late 1600s although no exact location or name for his inn is given in any sources I have come across so he must be ignored as a previous owner of this inn, but in 1719 a James Begg had an establishment called The Three Blackamores [sic] Heads’16 according to a newspaper mention from that year. Other names are also associated with an inn of that name, such as (probably) Mark Begg15 , James Begg, Margret Lorcan (or Lorcon) a widow in 1748, and Thomas Nolan, who married Mrs Lorcan later. Dillon Naughton had the premises17 in the 1756 and it was in the possession of Pat Donolly in 1808 when it was called The Three Blacks and when he vacated it it was to be let quickly or it would ‘be converted into shops, and let to solvent tenants, with convenient apartments, and stabling if required.’18 The final mention I can find is by the same truncated name when it was being ran by John and Isabella Dowd in 1843.19 The name appears to die out after that and it would be extremely difficult for me to track or trace any owners to the site after that without having access to deeds or similar records, or unless new information comes to light. There is a prominent publican called Patrick Cullen mentioned as having a public house in the second half of the 19th century, as well as a Mrs. Cullen – probably his widow - when he died. I have no idea if that was the same premises, although The Slater’s Directory from 1846 gives no inn on Main Street and just one public house owned by a Patrick Cullin (Cultin?). Griffiths Valuation map and ledger list an Ellen Cullen occupying the property that is now Sean’s Bar but not owning the site, although confusingly she appears to have owned the two sites next door, closer to the river end of the street. I wonder did the Cullens take over the license when the Dowds finished up? If provable then that would give continuation for the site - or part of it more probably as we shall see - being the original Blackamoor Heads Inn. With the exception of Mark Begg, the modern bar in question hasn’t published much information on previous owners that I can find, which would hopefully link back to some of these names, so my trail runs cold - or is luke-warm at best - here. (There was also an inn called the ‘Head Inn’ on the other side of the river on Church Street in the early 19th century which surely must have caused confusion!20 I’m not sure if it was a play on words or whether it referenced something else, there was a Crown Inn close by or on the same site in the late 18th century so perhaps it was a derivation from that. It's also quite frustrating that mentions of an inn on the 'main street' often meant a premises on Church Street on the other side of the Shannon, as this was the main street of the town! Also worth mentioning is that the name, The Three Blackamoors, was a relatively common name for an inn or tavern and there are quite a few mentioned around the country, which makes research a little tedious at times.)
But where precisely was The Blackamoor Inn on Main Street? As this would help us pick up the trail, although in reverse fashion.
Maps prior to the Ordnance Survey versions are unhelpful to our quest to pinpoint the exact location of the original inn, with many showing streets but no detail to buildings, or just streets. For example The Irish Historic Towns Atlas (IHTA)21 for Athlone has a map from the Sherrard’s survey of 1784 but doesn’t show the inn although it positions others on the Leinster side of the town, even though we know it was in existence at that time (That street was possibly out of Sherrard's brief?), and other maps from the 17th century also lack detail to be of any real help. The IHTA has no mention of the current establishment although it does mention the Three Blackamoor Heads, but sadly with no detail apart from a reference to deeds I have no easy access to at this point.
But we have some clues, as when the Pat Donolly mentioned above had vacated it in 1808, it was being described as an ‘extensive inn’ and having ‘an abundance of house room, with stabling to accommodate 60 horses, and a passage for water to the River Shannon, at the rear of the concerns.’ It was also said to be ‘in the centre of the main street.’ This is an interesting comment, because prior to the erection of the new crossing in c. 1844, the bridge over the river was situated quite some meters to the south and lined up with our Main Street making it the main thoroughfare west – which is how it got its name of course – and the houses and other building on the street ran right down to the bridge before some were demolished or altered to make way for a quay for navigation and boat mooring purposes. If playing Devil’s Advocate and one looked at where the ‘centre’ of the street was it would be somewhat removed from the existing bar by some margin, although the ordnance survey map (6” OSI) from the late first half of the 19th century shows the gap in the buildings on the street where there was access to the stables mentioned perhaps? This was clearly built over at a later period, possibly when there was an extra floor added to the premises, before being completely blocked up then or at a later date. This also accounts for the strange positioning of the windows with a larger space on the left than on the right if you look at the complete façade of the building that incorporates the bar. This would lead us to assume that this opening was part of that building and the current site – which incorporates a separate business to the pub now – and therefore even without looking at deeds or any other information it does feel right that this was indeed the site of the Blackamoor Inn, although there isn’t any definitive proof I can find so we are in the area of 'possibles' and 'probables,' which is never a comfortable place to be, as it may be where those unicorns reside.
Interestingly, one source gives the road frontage of the site that contained the original inn as 66 feet17, if this is correct and in Irish feet more so than Imperial feet it would include exactly the facade as discussed plus the peculiarly narrow building on the left as we look at the building. (Measurement was taken from the recent OS map online.) That whole frontage was owned or leased as three properties by Ellen Cullen at the time of the Griffiths valuation c. 1855. This of course may be meaningless but if we think of an inn with an archway/opening for carriages then it would make sense that it would include a building on the other side of the arch also, perhaps for security or for accommodation for stable hands or coach drivers, etc.? It would also help with the comment that the site was in the middle of Main Street as this would pull the whole site closer to the bridge. I think it is very possible that the then owner did split up the frontage into three separate entities after 1808, with the current public house becoming a smaller part of the whole at that time and still called The Three Blacks, later ran by the Dowds and then the Cullens. All of that is a stretch granted, although it is based on maps and the visible streetscape, although I am acutely aware of not wanting to drift down the road of fiction and become part of a problem instead of helping with solutions, so as you can see this is just pure guesswork, if vaguely educated perhaps? Although I do feel the nuzzle of that unicorn on my shoulder ...
So what age is the building? The National Built Heritage Service22 state 1700 – 1750 before plumping for the average which is ‘c.1725’ but as we have seen this can be a little out and should not be taken as an exact date, nor is it expected to be of course. There were a couple of significant events in Athlone’s history that might shed light on a closer date, and that was the great siege of Athlone where ‘the east town was burnt in 1690, and when the west town and the castle were reduced to rubble by '12,000 cannon bullets, 600 bombs, nigh 50 ton of powder and a great many ton of stones' fired off by the Williamite artillery’21 the following year. With its close proximity to the castle it would be hard to see how any building on this site would have survived such an intense bombardment, and add to this that in 1697 a bolt of lightning hit the castle and ignited ‘260 barrels of [gun]powder, 1,000 charged hand-grenades, with 810 skains(sic) of match [Flammable cord used to fire cannons, etc.] which were piled over them, 220 barrels of musket and pistol balls’23 and tools, horseshoes and nails, which caused destruction and fire throughout the town and one would assume that Main Street took the brunt of the damage given its proximity to the castle. Indeed in 1819 Rev. Stean quotes from a source from just after the calamity occurred - ‘the lighted match forcing the thatched houses burned to the ground the greatest part of what the thunder and blast had left standing yet little remained of the whole town but a few poor cottages without the gates …’23 (As an aside, the good reverend also states that ‘there is one very bad inn’ on this side of Athlone in 1819 but sadly he refrains from giving the name or position!) So, although this is pure conjecture, it very possible that the inn was newly built by the above-mentioned James Begg prior to his newspaper mention in 1719. The town was supposed to have recovered rapidly from the destruction so it is certainly conceivably that the building was erected in the very, very late 1690s or the first decade of the 1700s. Again, I have no proof of this but I would suggest that the building dates from closer to 1700, which ties in with the range given by the NBHS too, and if it is the same building as owned by James Begg mentioned above then it must be prior to 1719 at the very least.
Of course there is mention of it dating back further, much further. For example there is reference to a selection of old coins and a section of ‘wattle and wicker’ (surely it should be wattle and daub?) that dates back to ‘the ninth century.’ Notes on the excellent Historic Environment Viewer24 for the site state the following, ‘'Sean's Bar' was originally a two storey high building with thick walls, an additional third storey in brick was added later. Preserved on the premises is a section of wattle partition removed from a first floor wall. This could be of seventeenth century date [my emphasis] but it is not securely dated (Bradley et. al. 1985, 28).’ (Were there any two-storey buildings like this in the 9th century? That would seem odd, as surely any structures of a commercial type were single storey? I'm not sure of course.) It is also worth noting that the letter taped on to the wattle and daub display from the National Museum of Ireland, sent to Anna Fitzsimons and dated 1972, says in what appears to be a reply sent back to Mrs. Fitzsimons that wattle a daub was used from very early times to the present day before going on to mention the excavations being carried out at that time in Dublin around Winetavern Street, and that the wattle work there was dated between the 9th and 13th century.25 It doesn’t mention anything about the date of the wall on display, so perhaps there is confusion around the meaning of the letter? I'm really not sure again. When contacted, the National Museum of Ireland said they had no records to support any claim that the dates were verified by them, and they know of no record of the wattle and daub being sampled and dated. They did say that they have around thirty trade tokens that relate to Athlone on their database, but they are 17th century and they had no information that they related to this pub. I have no idea why they have no record of the finds but sadly I have once again reached a dead-end in my research in this direction with this avenue closed to me. (Incidentally, I discovered that oft-mentioned old fireplace on the site was relocated there from a completely different structure, as per another note on the Historic Environment Viewer which states, ‘On the premises of Sean's Bar, 13 Main Street, is a late medieval stone built fireplace from a house on an island in Lough Ree (Bradley et. al. 1985, 28).’ This is fascinating and I'm sure there's a good story being told about how it came to be placed in its current spot, as well as the history of the house from which it came!)
Of the story about Luain and his tavern from 900ad I can sadly find no trace in historical records, a person called Luain or Luan is indeed mentioned in sources but many older mentions of the meaning of 'Athlone' state that Luain came from the Irish for moon and that the name comes from the Ford of the Moon, while other various sources mention it comes from the word for ‘swift’, signifying the rapids at the ford or early bridge. The IHTA gives two derivations, one from the story The Táin’ mentioning the haunch (lon) of the white-horned bull of Mág Ai that was dropped into the river here having been killed by the brown bull of Cúailnge, but also mentions that it may refer to Luan who was shot along with his lover and died on the ford of the river, or another Luan who was slain there in battle. There is a mention in ‘The Fate of the Children of Tuireann’ of - in Irish - ‘Ath-Luain-mic-Luighdheach’ being the crossing at Athlone, so perhaps the source is that myth but we can clearly see here we have drifted into the realms of fantasy and storytelling we discussed at the start, and has far as I am aware these legendary stories are set in prehistory of the 1st century? As with so many place names in Ireland its true derivation may remain lost to time, language changes and the repetition of erroneous material - so sadly this was another dead-end! More modern references do certainly mention the Ford of Luan and many say that it is named after a person called Luan but don’t generally go much further than that comment.
There is also mention of the Guinness Book of Records certificate for the oldest pub in Ireland but the publication now distances itself from these types of certificates, and indeed Dan from the Twitter/X account for the Guinness World Records wrote in reply to a query on this very bar in 2017 that, 'The record for the 'Oldest Pub' was rested in 2000 when it became clear that it was not possible to verify it in full.'26 So without being able to contact GWR to ask more about the certificate I've ended up at yet another dead-end! It really feels like I'm an unwanted entity ...
From what I’ve researched and admittedly surmised at times (but with sound reasoning) some of the complete building that Sean’s Bar’ is a part of seem to date from around 1700 BUT I have absolutely no proof of that. If I could be sure that the site was definitely The Blackamoor Inn and that is the early 18th century frontage of the structure (although I do believe it very probably is given what I’ve seen and read) then it might make it one of the oldest pubs in Ireland still operating within (some of) its own walls, and it pips The Brazen Head by 50 years or so IF this is the case, even if the later has grown in size and the former shrank, or so it appears from the architecture. And, I admit that this is not a very good conclusion or assessment but I have been frustrated by dead-ends and lack of first hand accounts as you have seen.
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So, based on all of that information and factoring my own criteria for what constitutes the age of a pub – structure, etc. – there are still a lot of grey areas and unanswered questions. I’m an awful lot wiser but it would be great if both establishments could publish detailed books or well referenced write-ups in order that their claims can be better researched, verified and lauded. But this is true for all of our older pubs in fairness.
And this all raises the question of whether there are other older pubs in Ireland that have operated out of the same structure since opening? I have no idea, although there are some other less famous contenders ...
As mentioned already, I set my own personal criteria for this exploration and they might not concur with yours, or other’s findings. I can't say that yours - or theirs - are erroneous, as it depends on the criteria set and other evidence that is still be found. Unfortunately for me, many of the avenues I thought would be of help ended up being closed off, but I will revisit all of this again as new information is always coming to light.
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Why does any of this matter? Well, it doesn’t really and I’m not sure that anyone really believes the foundation dates of any pubs, breweries or businesses prior to the end of the 19th century anyway. Do they? I have previously discussed pubs being seen as repositories and keepers of our past brewing7, and not long after that piece a large multinational drinks company started to do just that. But there needs to be some independent and ‘proper’ museum-based oversight so that we know the right information is being communicated and has been verified by critical, knowledgeable historians.
As always, we need marketing-free honesty and factual accuracy in our brewing history. Keep the fiction to those sci-fi and fantasy books we all enjoy - unicorns and all ...
Liam K
The link to my Smithwick's post is here.
The link to James Wright of Triskele Heritage's piece is here.
(The image used at the start is called 'The 'Scene of the Last Struggle in Athlone - Connaught Side' and is via Google Books from Here and There Through Ireland Part 1 by Mary Banim -1891 and shows Main Street with the Sean's Bar site just out of view on the left.)
1 Evening Herald (Dublin) - Monday 14th May 1900
2 Sport (Dublin) - Saturday 13th July 1901
