Have you been drinking?
‘Cause it’s not too late to start
There’s still a week
Before they come and pull the place apart— The Lucksmiths, Requiem For The Punters Club, 2007
What happens when your favourite pub closes?
With Underdog ringing the curtain down, now we know. While Dublin has no shortage of pubs, it’s not as simple as merely simply walking a shorter distance to one of your other local options. What made Underdog unique was not just its dedication to independent beer, but the community that Paddy, Maura and other staff members have been instrumental in building since 2017. Although there are some other spots with a wider-than-usual beer selection, on the whole, it can be fairly difficult to find anything other than Guinness or Heineken products without actively seeking them out – and even then, you may have only one ‘non-corporate’ tap. No other pub in Dublin has a comparable beer selection – an especially difficult loss for smaller Irish brewers who already have relatively few places to get their beers noticed on tap.
In short, this one hurts.
Covid lockdowns notwithstanding (and even then, there were occasions where it was possible to pop in to pick up some cans), I have never known an Underdog-free Dublin. Yes, that’s a reminder of my blow-in status, but it was one of the first local pubs I ever visited, long before moving here, as well as the last before lockdown started, just after we arrived permanently. In those days, Underdog was in the basement of Brogan’s; the damp from neighbouring Dublin Castle’s moat made things moist at times. But there were good memories from that location, most notably, the working beer engine on Fridays, and incredibly friendly regulars. The beer was a fantastic mix of interesting beers from all across Ireland, as well as choices from the UK, the US and elsewhere in Europe. The bottles and cans were just as diverse as the options on tap, and the knowledgeable crowd would happily make recommendations to visitors or newbies. I quickly got to know Paddy, the owner and all-around legend, and always felt warmly welcomed.
After Covid, the many issues with that space led to a temporary ‘residency’ at the Legal Eagle, with the same great range of beers, minus the beer engine. Much of the previous crowd migrated to the new space, and it was easy to become a regular, making firm friends. And when the former Galway Bay Brewing spot that had been Paddle & Peel, and then, Taco Libre became available (is it cursed? Who can say?), Underdog moved in on a permanent basis – at least, that was the idea. This was ideal for me as it was only a 15ish minute walk away, and it became a proper community hub: being a regular here meant that no advance planning was ever needed – you’d always run into a friend and have some great discussions/rants; a chance to put the world to rights, and to do so over some of the best beers you’ve tried anywhere. Visitors were warmly welcomed (unless they got aggressive about the lack of Guinness, even after being pointed to the O’Hara’s stout options, which I did see happen a few times) and quickly included in chats and impromptu tastings.
Underdog hosted some wonderful events, too – the usual tap takeovers from breweries near and far, beer history talk with Ron Pattinson, a book launch for Christina’s excellent Filthy Queens, an episode of A Place in the Sun with live commentary from the participants (also regulars) and some fiendishly difficult pub quizzes; when the beer questions are too difficult for a group of beer nerds, you know you’ve hit upon something unique.
The close-knit nature of our rotating band of regulars meant that when it was rumoured that the end was approaching for Underdog, word went around almost instantaneously. Rescue plans were mooted, possible buyers discussed and so on, but really, there was one overarching question: where do we go now?
We still have no firm answer to that question, but it’s fair to say we made the most of the last few weeks of business; there would be no kegs left for any potential new owners to have to worry about. We brought in bottles and cans from all over the world to share as the taps ran out, and made sure that we put in extra orders at the excellent Boco Pizza across the street. From leftover Mexican-ish lager to Westvleteren 12 (and everything in between), it was all shared and, mostly, enjoyed. There were hugs, some tears and a lot of laughter on the final night.
And yes, we can, of course, wander to other pubs on a whim, but it won’t be the same – those serendipitous chats and chance encounters will need to be more planned and organised. This is no great tragedy in the grand scheme of things, obviously, but it’s still a kind of loss.
Maybe, down the line, Underdog will be reborn in slightly (or very) different form; after all, it did happen for The Punter’s Club, the Melbourne bar whose 2007 tribute in song by The Lucksmiths bookends this post. But for now, thanks to Paddy, Maura and everyone else who ever worked behind the scenes – you created something unique to Dublin, and it’s going to be much missed. GRMA.
I’ll be alright
We’ll make tonight tomorrow morning
Sometimes you wanna go
Where everybody knows you’re drunk*
*Song lyrics, folks! Drink responsibly, etc…
There’s a definite chill in the air, and a quick search on any platform will turn up a number of lists for cosy 
Our absolute favourites, though, are almost hidden gems when it comes to a roaring fire, and are well worth seeking out. 
We’ve not always been fair to 
The first point in its favour – for us, anyway – is its support for local independent beer: there are multiple 
While it’s true that when in this general direction we are more often to be found at 
While 
And it is, perhaps, fitting that Neary’s is a pub that attracts this kind of lore; its beautifully-maintained interior hearkens back to the 1880s – well, at least in the main bar downstairs – while upstairs, it’s a slightly more updated restaurant feel, but still elegantly understated. The 
On our perambulations around Dublin this week, we visit what feels like a proper dive bar…that is, assuming proper dive bars all have a few good local taps and a killer playlist. If so, then Anseo is, indeed, in that category. But its slightly-scrubby-yet-cheerful interior doesn’t entirely hide the building’s history: this is a mid-18th century house, complete with a few extant interior features, that’s been repurposed as a pub since the mid-19th century. If you 
You are most likely to be visiting Anseo to catch a gig from an up-and-coming band or artist, or, perhaps, seeing some stand-up comedy upstairs; you may also be doing a 
As regular readers know, we are always on the lookout for 
While the ‘since 1793’ date is a little shaky, given the current building’s construction 
So, ghosts aside, what is the pub like? Well…most definitely not creepy. If anything, it’s a bit too polished to feel at all like a liminal space. There are several very different sections of the pub with their own character, but none are especially dark or gloomy. The front is much more ‘pubby’ and the rear more of a restaurant or hotel bar vibe (the many large TV screens are part of what gives that impression), though it’s worth knowing that the back bar is where the sole local-craft-beer representative is; there’s a Rye River tap if you know where to look. Indeed, the food was very good – a step up from a lot of pub food, though the enormous portions are perhaps created more for tourists than locals. There’s also the usual Guinness – and Murphy’s – plus some Warsteiner.
There’s a covered outdoor space too, more 
Perhaps surprisingly to some (certainly, to us), Dublin pubs do not contain a wealth of ghostlore. There are, of course, 
We’re less inclined toward the flashy, big-name haunting at 
But we also want to shine the spectral spotlight on another pub whose apparitional associations are often overlooked: 
The 1884 is so called after 
And like many pubs in the more suburban parts of Dublin, it’s absolutely enormous inside – indeed, somewhat barn-like. But it’s all very tidy, and there’s plenty of space to spread out. There are much-appreciated coat hooks under the bar, which really should be standard everywhere, but here we are. Only a few years ago, this pub was known as Grainger’s, and it had, well, a 
And while the beer selection is mostly the usual Guinness-and-Heineken-and-so-so-much-Rockshore (despite being listed as a stockist of Hope, brewed just a bit further north), there is also the lesser-spotted Kilkenny, which has been popping up here and there of late, and it’s a nice alternative. The real hidden gem of The 1884, though, is the enormous 
While it does have a theoretically reasonably interesting drinks lineup, like its fellow Bodytonic-managed bar, 
It is, of course, entirely possible that it’s simply aiming for a younger/cooler demographic, which is fair enough…though it does beg the question as to why there’s a mural of Peter Fonda on one side of the building…it’s not something that resonates with GenXers like us…are the younger Millennials into Easy Rider? We’ve been told it’s a ‘no’ from Gen Z: ‘…it’s no Taxi Driver.’
In our effort to fill in the blanks when we see you getting lost in our search results, we’re aiming to visit some of the more common pubs on the tourist trail here and there, now that the bulk of the summer holidaymakers have gone home. Indeed, this week’s pub is one we’ve only ever previously visited in that capacity, years before moving to Dublin: The Long Hall.
Visiting again with more ‘local’ eyes does make you notice different things, but the fundamentals remain the same: the beautifully-maintained – and, in this case, likely genuinely world-famous – exterior of the pub is unmistakable, with its signature red-and-off-white stripes. Inside, it’s the kind of high Victorian décor that is more commonly a pastiche these days, but The Long Hall comes by it honestly: its last real renovation was in the 1880s. And while the deep reds and dark woods are common to many other local Dublin pubs of this vintage – a subject to which we’ll return – there are unique features here, including the 