We’re back safely on the north side of the Liffey this week, and have returned to Glasnevin for a visit to The Tolka House. As with The Cat & Cage in nearby Drumcondra, there’s a better claim to being a realistically ‘old’ pub here than with, er, some pubs closer to Dublin city centre that like to trumpet an older pedigree. And while by ‘old’ in this instance, we don’t mean medieval, there has been a pub here since at least the 18th century, and quite possibly earlier. The Tolka House, so named as it is, indeed, right on the Tolka River, began documented life at The Bull’s Head.
While it was likely something akin to a coaching inn in that earlier phase – again, like its not-too-distant neighbour in Drumcondra – having a tourist site spring up nearby in the form of the National Botanic Gardens in the 19th century was a boon to business, similar to the relationship between the nearby Gravediggers and Glasnevin Cemetery. While the name and ‘look’ of the pub has changed over the decades (it’s just had another touch-up in the last year), much of what we see today comes from a major renovation in the 1990s. There’s quite a large covered deck in the back, and ‘bar’ and ‘restaurant’ sections inside. I’m not sure the most recent update has had time to bed in yet; it still has a bit of that somewhat over-designed feel to it, especially in the restaurant portion, but that may fade as things get a bit more of a patina again, and having things err on the side of ‘tidy’ is no bad thing.
Despite it being relatively close to me, The Tolka House had not been one of my more usual haunts – largely because it lacked a good independent beer option. Fortunately, that has now changed, and they are proudly pouring beer from the excellent Four Provinces Brewing Co. For you, dear reader, I have taken it upon myself to try both the Féile Pale Ale and the now-renamed True Blue Lager (formerly The Poddle, with some minor recipe tweaks), and I am pleased to say that both are in excellent condition. I do need to visit the Four Provinces pub in Kimmage itself at some point soon – perhaps when their absolutely gorgeous Gob Fliuch Dark Mild is back on tap (or on cask? A lady can dream).
But back to the pub at hand; while I will never personally understand the appeal of a carvery (see also: Fagan’s), the one here at The Tolka House seems to be quite popular, and there are other options as well. For me, though, it’s knowing that there are some interesting local beer options that make me more likely to stop by; one hopes that other pubs can respond to the ever-increasing pricing from the macro brewers by making more room on their taps for independent local beer.
There’s room for all sorts.
Where: 9a Glasnevin Hill, Glasnevin, Dublin 9, D09 VH02
Access from the city centre: Buses 4, 9, 11, 83, 83A
Food: Breakfast, bar menu, larger plates, carvery
Sport: All the big sport options, especially football and rugby
TVs: Several throughout the pub, including big screens
Music: Live (chiefly non-trad) music most weekends
Family-friendliness: Children welcome in the restaurant, not in the bar
Pub-crawl-ability: Low-Medium, depending on your taste for walking; The Gravediggers is just across the cemetery, and The Botanic around the corner, but it’s not a terribly long walk into Phibsborough for The The Bald Eagle, or across Griffith Park to Fagan’s or further up into Drumcondra for The Ivy House and The Cat & Cage.
Local sites of note: National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin Cemetery, Met Éireann building
Haunted: Not a single ghost story in active circulation; someone should really remedy this
Other notes: €6.80 a pint (for the Four Provinces beers) is not at all bad by local standards
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