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Leah Farrell/Rollingnews.ie

From the front room to The Long Hall: The history of the Dublin pub

‘A Little History of the Dublin Pub’ opens on 1 June and will run until 24 September.

THE IDEA OF the pub, as we know it today, really only came into being during the Victorian era.

At the opening of the 19th century, most pubs in Dublin – and elsewhere – were really just places that alcohol could be purchased. And people imbibed in their own front rooms.

The major shift in Ireland came as the Licensed Vintners Association (LVA) was founded in 1817. Its aim was to provide a high quality of pub and brewing in Dublin. Its establishment followed larger brewers taking over the home brewing industry that existed in Ireland for many years.

From that time, 200 years ago, publicans started building premises with features that are distinctive to what we know as a ‘pub’ today – the fine wood carvings and stained, polished glass, to intricate mosaic tiling.

Next week, the Little Museum of Dublin is launching a new exhibition to celebrate the history of such pubs in the capital.

‘A Little History of the Dublin Pub’ opens this Thursday, 1 June and will run until 24 September.

The exhibition celebrates the 200th anniversary of the LVA and tells the story of Dublin’s public houses from before the Victorian Era until today.

90345916_90345916 Inside The Stag's Head Sam Boal / Rollingnews.ie Sam Boal / Rollingnews.ie / Rollingnews.ie

One of the most iconic elements of Irish culture, Dublin pubs have evolved throughout the centuries – from their origins in front rooms and kitchens of Dublin homes, to the Victorian era and today, the modern bars.

The exhibition will put a particular focus on the Victorian era pubs in Dublin.

“The Victorian pub was a conscious decision to improve the standards and the quality of the experience,” Jesse Carley, assistant to the director of The Little Museum of Dublin, told TheJournal.ie.

[Before] they were just rooms with a counter, they didn’t have very much in the way of lighting, seating or lavatories.

“Victorian pubs in Dublin were some of the finest preserved Victorian pubs in the world and there are 16 such recognised in Dublin which remain authentically Victorian.”

The Victorian pubs still alive and well in Dublin include:

  • The Palace Bar
  • Swan Bar
  • Toners
  • The Long Hall (which celebrated its 250th birthday last year)
  • Slattery’s
  • Stags Head
  • Ryan’s
  • The International Bar
  • Gaffney’s
  • The Hut
  • Bowes
  • Kehoe’s
  • Finnegan’s
  • Cassidy’s

“There’s a little bit of each of those pubs in the exhibition but then it’s also a celebration of Dublin pubs in general,” Carley adds.

We have a little bit on many of the pubs you would think of, such as the Brazen Head, the oldest pub in Dublin and the wide variety of different kinds of pubs.

He explained that the architectural features of Victorian era pubs are what made them so distinctive. They were also the first places people drank outside of their own homes, the kitchens of the people brewing and selling, or premises with plain counters (like off licences).

90426397_90426397 Leah Farrell Leah Farrell

The exhibition celebrates the place Dublin pubs have in Irish society and explains how it achieved that style.

“It’s also a celebration of Dublin pubs in general. We have a little bit on many of the pubs you would think of, such as the Brazen Head, the oldest pub in Dublin and the wide variety of different kinds of pubs,” Carley said.

The Council of the LVA will attend the launch of the exhibition to get the first look, before it opens to the public.

Curator of The Little Museum of Dublin, Simon O’Connor said: “The history of Dublin’s pubs is full of fascinating stories. With its impact on pop culture, politics and everything in between, and the evolution of pubs themselves from front rooms to finely crafted works of art, there is something for everyone to take away from this one-of-a-kind exhibition.”

Read: Jack Nealon’s pub on Capel street is closing after over 100 years

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    Mute Ciarán Masterson
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    Feb 12th 2018, 10:38 PM

    I’ve read it, read it, read it….

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    Mute Trevor W
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    Feb 12th 2018, 10:47 PM

    @Ciarán Masterson: hahaha. Well done

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    Mute Ciarán Masterson
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    Feb 12th 2018, 11:55 PM

    @Trevor W:

    Thank you.

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    Mute Emilio Butler
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    Feb 12th 2018, 10:21 PM

    A truly remarkable story, and nonfiction. I find it terribly sad, how extinction is under our noses

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    Mute Ron North
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    Feb 12th 2018, 11:01 PM

    I know how you feel little guy, I hope there is someone out there for both of us.

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    Mute Liberal Larry
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    Feb 12th 2018, 11:54 PM

    @Ron North: awh… (heartbreak emoji)

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    Mute Myk_Oval_Balls_nRyt
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    Feb 13th 2018, 6:18 PM

    @Ron North: Pizza will always be there for you Ron, Always**whispers**

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    Mute Paul Culligan
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    Feb 12th 2018, 11:27 PM

    Would you say that, if you put him back where you found him, he might know where the moths are hidin’. Just because we can’t find them, doesn’t mean Romeo can’t sniff them out. Mind you, he probably has Alzheimers by now.

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    Mute George Oscar Bluth
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    Feb 12th 2018, 10:35 PM

    Incredible yet the Bolivian tree lizard thrives on a diet of pigeons. It’s at the point where we need wave after wave of Chinese needle snake to prevent us from being overrun.

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    Mute Arthur Pewty
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    Feb 13th 2018, 1:21 AM

    and I thought I was lonely…..get this frog a mate!!!

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    Mute Mary Lyons
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    Feb 12th 2018, 11:51 PM

    I’m glad it’s not the same problem in the pond in my back garden! It’s a veritable love in at the moment!

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    Mute Jim Doherty
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    Feb 12th 2018, 10:57 PM

    Darn it, never thought I’d have so much in common with a frog, know how that little guy feels

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    Mute Jim Doherty
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    Feb 12th 2018, 10:58 PM

    @Jim Doherty: hmmm..that loses lot of its meaning without the emoticon attached!

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    Mute Tommy Roche
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    Feb 12th 2018, 10:40 PM

    Damn… Hope he gets his hole before he croaks.

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    Mute Gary Byrnes
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    Feb 13th 2018, 3:39 AM

    Is there a link

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    Mute Pauliebhoy
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    Feb 12th 2018, 10:19 PM

    I’m sure there’s a willing female pig out there

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    Mute Oretani Wildlife
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    Feb 12th 2018, 11:12 PM

    More crap editing from the Journal. The picture is probably a European Tree Frog and is nothing like the frog the story is about.

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    Mute Oretani Wildlife
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    Feb 12th 2018, 11:19 PM

    @Oretani Wildlife: Correction, it’s a Hipsiboas riojanus, endemic to Argentina. Still crap editing.

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    Mute Joe Conlon
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    Feb 12th 2018, 11:23 PM

    @Oretani Wildlife: hop along Oretani

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    Mute Red hurley
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    Feb 13th 2018, 7:48 AM

    Mmmmmmmmm frogs legs in garlic.

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    Mute Joseph Blocks
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    Feb 12th 2018, 10:55 PM

    What’s the fuss? Frogs can change sex anyway. He can impregnate himself.

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    Mute Dae Monicus
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    Feb 12th 2018, 11:42 PM

    @Joseph Blocks: Interesting fact that Joseph, if only Kermit knew that when Miss Piggy finally told him to go f@#k himself he wouldn’t be such an emotional wreck.

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