The signs, both literal and metaphorical, were not great.
The former Sackville Lounge, which had a reputation as a mix of Old Man Pub and dive-y spot to meet somewhat strange and unusual people, had been closed since Covid. But rather than re-opening under that name, with its delightful neon sign (still there, at present), it gained a new identity – and much opprobrium.
The new signage now proclaims the pub to be Biddy Mulligan’s Old Ale and Stout House (‘since 1914’), in the kind of font you’d normally find in plastic letters on a strip-mall Oirish Pub in, say, Arkansas. The hand-wringing on Dublin Reddit and on local lifestyle websites was swift, and even the national press got involved, interviewing the delightful local historian and podcaster, Donal Fallon, on his take. Fallon is hard at work on a book on Dublin pub history – something we are very much looking forward to here – and so was ready with a thoughtful opinion:
Looking at the new signage above the old Sackville Lounge, Mr Fallon compared the signage to a “poor imitation” of McSorley's Ale House in New York, which is a very historic institution.
“To try and recreate something distinctly Irish American here falls flat,” he said…
“A number of pub interiors are rightly protected architecturally, but it's ultimately people that make a public house special,” he added.
We’ll come back to his point about the people later, but at first glance, I had the same reaction – why on earth had what looked like an Oirsh pub been dropped into the centre of Dublin? While it’s true that there are Dublin pubs that cater more to the tourist trade than to locals (and not just in Temple Bar) that do dip into a more stereotypical ‘Irish pub’ feel, to tip over into what we might call Full Oirish seemed, well, unseemly. Unnecessary. Just a bit, well, naff.
But as is so often the case with these sort of things, life moves on, and it’s no longer front of mind.
And so, when I was meeting a friend ‘at the Sackville Lounge‘ recently, I’d completely forgotten that it was the pub that had caused all the furore; until, that is, I couldn’t find it on the map, and I realised that *this* was the pub with the unfortunate rebranding. Nevertheless, we were committed, and so went in, and found it…quite pleasant?
Yes, I was surprised, too.
While it’s still a small spot, the dark wood and low lighting add to the cosy feel, and the interior décor is very much ‘Easter Rising’ themed with images of the leaders around the pub, it doesn’t veer off into a theme park feel; indeed, given that the pub is steps away from the GPO, if the interior matched the exterior sign, it could easily career rapidly into the realm of the offensive. But – and here’s the thing – it does not! It’s quite nice! It includes portraits of many of the women involved – something especially notable if, like me, you’ve recently watched ‘Michael Collins’ for the first and only time, and wondered where the women were…but I digress.
The vibe was ‘make Gen X feel at home’ with some fun 80s tunes, and the service was excellent – the bartender was welcoming and we had some great chats. The beer lineup is nothing to write home about, with your standard Guinness-and-Heineken offering, but as a central spot to have a catchup with friends, it fits the bill. It was also largely empty, apart from our small group, but that may simply be a function of it being relatively early…or, perhaps, people are still weirded out by the sign outside.
But despite the name, my friends who live nearby keep going back, largely because they always receive the same warm welcome and have become semi-regulars in that accidental way that sometimes happens. They’ve been there when mariachi bands have turned up (and why not?), and have gone for the odd free Irish Coffee, which seems to be a specialty of the house, though as someone who neither drinks coffee nor consumes whipped cream (and prefers whiskey neat, when it comes to that), its appeal has never been clear to me – but to each their own.
There is, at present, no sign of the ‘house beers’ mentioned on the website (which does feel more ancient than the pub, it must be said), but at least we can debate whether ‘old’ modifies ‘ale’ or ‘ale house’ in this instance. I’d welcome a local brewery badging it as ‘Biddy’s’ if it meant a more interesting beer option, though I know not everyone is a fan of that approach, but again, the real surprise is that the atmosphere inside is really very nice. It is, after all, all about the people.
Shame about the name, but we can still just call it the Sackville Lounge, right?
Where: 16 Sackville Pl, North City, Dublin, D01 V0C7
Access from the city centre: Luas Green Line, Buses 9, 13, 14, 83, 122, 123, 10-ish minute walk
Food: Crisps
Sport: N/A
TVs: N/A
Music: 80s choons
Family-friendliness: Felt very adults-only, not in a bad way
Pub-crawl-ability: High – Mooney’s of Abbey Street, The Morris Bar, Kimchi Hophouse, Mema’s, The Big Romance, The Flowing Tide, The Palace Bar, Piper’s Corner, Bowes, JR Mahon's, The Oval Bar, and The Confession Box; also not too far from The Silver Penny if you must visit a ‘Spoons
Local sites of note: O’Connell Street, The Spire, The Portal, GPO, Custom House, Busáras, Connolly Station, Abbey Theatre, Gate Theatre, NATIONAL WAX MUSEUM, Ha’Penny Bridge
Haunted: The exterior signage can certainly cause nightmares
Other notes: An easy spot to begin or end a pub crawl
Socials: Instagram
Sometimes, just sometimes, a fantastic new(ish) pub pops up where you least expect it. Dublin’s Talbot Street has had a lot of publicity 
At that time, the shopfront that is now the pub was The Morris Wallpaper Stores, and the signage from that era has been preserved above the door. The theme continues inside, with framed William Morris wallpaper samples on the exposed brick, giving a mix of industrial chic and cosy early-20th century-pub vibes. There’s a pizza spot toward the back (check for opening hours, as these things evolve) with more communal-styles tables, but the seating in the main bar is much ‘pubbier,’ and very comfortable indeed.
There’s a good mix of the usual Guinness-and-friends offerings, but also a handy Rye River tap, as well as Beamish for the Corkonians in your life. The cocktail list is interesting as well. On our visit, the staff were all wonderful, and the attention to detail that went into the design of the pub is evident. It hits just the right mark of honouring the building’s past without feeling like a theme pub.
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 
We kick off our 2025 pub-visiting endeavours with a stop off at 
Its more 
Some of that may also come from its beer selection; there’s the usual Guinness-and-macros lineup (plus Murphy’s), as well as two new taplines from