Edit, mid-February 2025: Well, that lasted a hot second. We’ll revisit when it re-opens (again), with cocktails.
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
We kick off our 2025 pub-visiting endeavours with a stop off at 
Its more 
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In the immortal words of 
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Indeed, every time I’ve stopped it it’s been a good mix of people from all over, either enjoying a pint before heading on to a gig at The Academy or an after-work crowd catching up before catching buses. While it doesn’t have the selection of local independent beers that its neighbour 
This week, we are journeying to one of those ‘needs no introduction’ pubs that’s simply part of the fabric here in Dublin, and sometimes, you just need a pint and a toastie. And so, 
And, speaking of podcasts, there’s an entire episode of 
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Despite its Viking-era foundations, Dublin rarely feels like an ‘old’ city by European standards – something we can, in large part, blame on the 
Built as a house in 1734, Toner’s has been continuously operated as a pub since 1818, and to quote the 
And Toner’s does have an interesting history; it’s alleged to be the only pub Yeats ever went to, and his brief? occasional? presence in the front snug seems to be one of the connections that gets Toner’s onto the list of Dublin’s 
As tourist season seems more or less nearly in full swing, we’re sticking with Dublin city centre this week and O’Neill’s Pub and Kitchen – a tourist-friendly but also authentic pub that caters to a range of tastes and preferences – and one that’s large enough to offer a different experience depending on where you are in the pub (and just how crowded it is on the day or evening).
I recently had the unpleasant experience of stopping in a pub I’d never tried, and which shall remain nameless here, that was so aggressively 
Happily, O’Neill’s is nothing like this, and visiting it not long after The Pub to Remain Nameless made its positive features stand out all the more. Yes, there are trad sessions – good ones are always welcome – but the usual background music is quiet enough to chat, not painfully loud. Yes, there are various old photos and signs, even some barrels as you head upstairs, but they seem like a more natural accumulation over 
And speaking of ‘upstairs,’ there’s a nice ‘Whiskey Corner,’ all red leather and dark wood, though of course you’re welcome to drink anything you’d like (and the whiskey selection is indeed a very good one). It can be quieter up here (not necessarily on big game days, of course), especially during the afternoon, and it can make a pleasant spot on your literary pub crawl, given its 
But as of this writing, Bowes seems to be doing just fine as-is: in addition to the usual well-kept Guinness, there’s always an excellent whiskey selection, rivalling that of 
For me, Bowes
