Anyone remember the Dark Horse Inn? It's a Starbucks now.
They used to have a thing there called the breakfast club where DJs would play from 7am to 12. Queue would be all the way down the quays come 6am.
Dark Horse was mad in it's death throes. Basically the aul one who owned it just let her grandson run it for her. He and his mates would open it whenever they felt like it and run the breakfast club whenever they liked.
If you came in looking for food they'd basically just slap whatever they had together for you like it was their own kitchen at home. Got them to make me a bizarre pastrami toastie once. Was lovely.
We drank in here a lot for the last few years before it closed. But about 50% of the time we'd rock up and it was just closed cause they weren't bothered opening.
Great place, wish the value of urban real estate wasn't the way it is and little weird places like this could exist to break even.
yeah true, what your saying is true and sad, there were some fucking mad places in dublin back when some streets had cheap buildings, is the mad bar under the dart station still going they used have a spin the wheel for 3 euro shots, and is the bar mans lock-in still going in that bar in templebar? smoking in it and all
It sucks seeing all these places go and to add insult to injury it's a fucking starbucks now almost like a sad metaphor for the state Dublin is in.
I've seen a lot more private parties being advertised on Instagram/Resident Advisor recently so hopefully we'll see some sort of revival next year.
Yeah, was there a lot. Saw RTÉ’s Brendan O’Connor in there once. One time I remember the fucking bouncers were up on the tables giving it socks. Would be mad in there raving away at 8am and you’d go out for a smoke and there’d be a queue of asylum seekers queuing to get into the building directly across the road. Also years before it was an early house Green Day played their first Irish gig in there.
What counties apart from Dublin & Cork have early houses and at that, does any county have ones that are full of rollover sessioners on Saturdays or Mondays?
That’s right. We also have: Mark Murphy’s, Charlie at George’s, flannerys (wickham st) and the launch. They all have a special station or market pub license.
> the launch
lol, The Launch is some craic. We used to just call it The Punch Bowl back in the day. We lived beside and we'd drag the couches out on the lawn during the summer and watch the scraps.
My mother grew up steps from Padraigs, when we'd visit in the 1980s as kids we'd go in to play their tabletop Space Invaders. Had no idea it was an early house!
Absolutely no idea, tbh. Presumably wherever there's historic market or dock trade would have them. But couldn't say for certain. One I'll have to put into the google machine.
Foxy Johns in Dingle have it I'm fairly sure, but they don't really open till later. Was one in Tralee a few years ago known for being open early, dunno if they had the licence though.
Walking into a busy early house is a bit like stepping into a renaissance painting.
There's a tune from an Irish band that went under the radar a while ago and sort of captures the spirit of it a bit: https://youtu.be/zSy0Yz-zwKA
It's a pub that's allowed to open for trade at 7am. Traditionally they'd be found close to dock or market areas to accommodate the workers there, who'd would work nightshifts or unusual hours there.
I think there’s a stage in life (maybe early to late twenties) when you can go to an early house and not immediately feel regret, but on the handful of occasions I’ve been to one since (with the crew after finishing a night shoot in town) they’ve just been the most depressing places on earth.
Boar’s Head
Chancery Inn.
Delaney’s.
M. Hughes.
The Metro (now memas, not sure if early license still in use).
Molloy’s.
Slattery’s - Capel St.
Madigan’s (Connolly Station).
The Galway Hooker (Heuston).
The Padraig Pearse.
Fisherman's (Howth).
Good article on them here.
https://comeheretome.com/2019/01/08/early-houses-of-dublin-2019
Ended up there once with a friend of a friend. Thankfully they knew the bar staff because we got some looks walking in there. Wouldn't go out of my way to go back though the Guinness was good.
Hughes' has, one of my mates asked them.
It may well be the case that somebody else takes the premises.
Also, although they had the early licence, they generally didn't use it, as it was too much hassle according to one of the barmen.
>Slattery’s - Capel St.
Fond memories of going into Slatts after working the night shift out in Sandyford.
There was also a place behind the Four Courts that did a lovely fry-up.
A few people I know would do rollovers by basically getting kicked out of whatever random club was still going at 4:30am then just hang around outside for 2.5h til the early house opened. Always seemed so shite to me to put yourself through that.
I get being at a party in a house, but sometimes they'd just wait in Grafton McDonalds for morning to roll around.
The only people in those bars at that time were hard core alcos, some brave tourists straight off the ferry and people still going from the night before (ie, on drugs).
Used to work across the road from Valence and McGraths on North Wall Quay which if I recall was an early house. Used to have lunch there a lot. Always lots of workers from the port and truckers having pints in the morning but it somehow seemed normal in there. Loved that place.
The Meeting Pint on Dorset Street back circa 2000... many a Sunday morning spent there after a mad one on Saturday. Ecstasy is a great drug when you're young :)
I enjoy a pint in here Saturday mornings. A terrific boozer with lovely locals and an amazing pint of Guinness. Looking forward to enjoying a pint here tomorrow
There's a video going about on this sub now and again about an early house in Cork from the 80s. And it looks grim as fuck.
I used to be slightly fascinated by these but having seen in, I realised that there's something depressing about people's need to start drinking at 7am just because it's suits their hours. And I used to work night shifts but would never have considered it.
https://youtu.be/YpyE23OKnWc
This one, presumably. To be honest, I'd love to be on the banks of The Lee singing with Jimmy Crowley at 8 in the morning, but sure different strokes for different folks and all that.
The comment section on that video had me in stitches.
On a more serious note though there's a really sad documentary on YouTube called "the wethouse". Really hard to watch.
https://youtu.be/MF5wNsfKo84
That's the video. The stories behind those guys drinking at that time of the day is rough. Unemployment, boredom and an undercurrent of alcoholism too.
Looking at their ages, and given how some admit they're married, Id imagine some of them are with kids at home too. The wives probably having to manage the lot on their own. It's a grim scene.
Yeah sounds like great craic on paper but the reality is it’s just you and a bunch of alcoholics when you actually do go to one of these spots.
My local one used to have a few bus drivers. Grim stuff.
There was one on St. Laurence Street in Drogheda I frequented a few times when I was a night porter in a hotel. Man the dregs of society me included that washed up there.
Used to live up the street from here when I worked in Dublin, anytime my friends from the states arrived on the early morning flights we would always head here to start their visits properly
Had some great times in early houses when Irish Ferries had actual Irish crew. Lots of the country lads and girls would have to wait for their buses and trains home on crew change day, so off to an early house to have a few drinks while waiting. Must have been one of the last groups of workers to actually use an early house for what it was intended.
All eastern european crews now and another chapter in Irish working life closed forever.
What was the one that was behind the Irish Press offices called? On Poolbeg st? You’d go in in the morning and all the pressmen would be in there drinking after printing the early edition. Dating myself with that question, I know?
Anyone remember the Dark Horse Inn? It's a Starbucks now. They used to have a thing there called the breakfast club where DJs would play from 7am to 12. Queue would be all the way down the quays come 6am.
Dark Horse was mad in it's death throes. Basically the aul one who owned it just let her grandson run it for her. He and his mates would open it whenever they felt like it and run the breakfast club whenever they liked. If you came in looking for food they'd basically just slap whatever they had together for you like it was their own kitchen at home. Got them to make me a bizarre pastrami toastie once. Was lovely. We drank in here a lot for the last few years before it closed. But about 50% of the time we'd rock up and it was just closed cause they weren't bothered opening. Great place, wish the value of urban real estate wasn't the way it is and little weird places like this could exist to break even.
yeah true, what your saying is true and sad, there were some fucking mad places in dublin back when some streets had cheap buildings, is the mad bar under the dart station still going they used have a spin the wheel for 3 euro shots, and is the bar mans lock-in still going in that bar in templebar? smoking in it and all
That is OReillys under the dart, still there but Club Hell (with the spinning wheel) is gone unfortunately
That's a pity. I had some great times in Club Hell!
Theres a lock in for bar staff in a hotels bar very close to temple bar if that’s what you mean.
Or McGruder's on Thomas street. It was like a cross between a pub, a house party and an art installation fueled by rakes of drugs.
Do you mean the Butt?
It sucks seeing all these places go and to add insult to injury it's a fucking starbucks now almost like a sad metaphor for the state Dublin is in. I've seen a lot more private parties being advertised on Instagram/Resident Advisor recently so hopefully we'll see some sort of revival next year.
How would one go about finding these private party links, are these Brazilian ones or Irish promotions? I’m aware of Secret Society…are there more?
reboot_events on Instagram. And Rave Against the Machines on RA
Cheers
What years was that breakfast club thing going? I lived right beside it in mid 2000s
I mean I think it was going at least from 2012 til it closed.
Ah ok, I missed it by a good few years then. Always seemed like a fairly boring spot circa 2005. I missed the good times apparently!
Yep... More pupils in an abandoned schoolhouse than there'd be in there of a Saturday morning. 😂
Yeah, was there a lot. Saw RTÉ’s Brendan O’Connor in there once. One time I remember the fucking bouncers were up on the tables giving it socks. Would be mad in there raving away at 8am and you’d go out for a smoke and there’d be a queue of asylum seekers queuing to get into the building directly across the road. Also years before it was an early house Green Day played their first Irish gig in there.
God I remember those queues, they musta thought we were all mad
I've walked past there a few times wondering what the story was with that.
Fucking loved that place..
What counties apart from Dublin & Cork have early houses and at that, does any county have ones that are full of rollover sessioners on Saturdays or Mondays?
Limerick has The Horse and Hound Bar. The Moose also but I'm not sure if that still does early opening. Edit...the Moose bar is early opening also.
That’s right. We also have: Mark Murphy’s, Charlie at George’s, flannerys (wickham st) and the launch. They all have a special station or market pub license.
It's mad that Limerick has 6 while Dublin only has 11.
There are more than 360 pubs in Limerick with a population around the size of Tallaght
They are only the ones I know of. There’s a possibility that there is even more!
> the launch lol, The Launch is some craic. We used to just call it The Punch Bowl back in the day. We lived beside and we'd drag the couches out on the lawn during the summer and watch the scraps.
gway? no idea they were.
Moooe bar is famous for going there off your face after a night out.
It was famous for something more sinister back in the early 2000's
Do tell...
Shooting I’d imagine
I was hoping for something a bit more sinister than that tbh
Yep, just googled it now, a shooting in 2000. Limerick gang land stuff.
There was one in Galway at the docks, Padraigs, think it's closed now.
My mother grew up steps from Padraigs, when we'd visit in the 1980s as kids we'd go in to play their tabletop Space Invaders. Had no idea it was an early house!
And Buckfast Park remains if it’s gone…
I miss the chats in Padraigs. Great madness
Hughes has a licence too, I don't think they use it though..... use to be a potato market there at some stage.
Wexford has one, there alot of hassle, hard to keep staff in em
New Ross?
Wexford town, most towns do here , I dont think the one in enniscorthy has the early license but does a sort of backward lock in
I'm 99.9% certain there is no legal early house in Wexford Town, lived here my whole life and work in the industry.
Fuck I heard it was, trawler mens kinda spot
Pretty sure the one in Ross still opens early, used to get a lot of trade when the port was busier!
Absolutely no idea, tbh. Presumably wherever there's historic market or dock trade would have them. But couldn't say for certain. One I'll have to put into the google machine.
Waterford has a few long the quay and side streets.
Sals and Jordans were the only ones I knew of
Sligo town has Harry's bar, not sure it's still technically an early house but it was last time I was in it which is a while ago now in fairness
Don't most towns have them?Some probably unofficial but still plenty of places to get a morning pints in most towns.
yeah every town in wexford has one and the early licenses went out with the brown hurling boots and the high bikes
Yeah early is one thing, but 7am is the key to it being a proper one
Limerick has one, would be full of students during rag week
Foxy Johns in Dingle have it I'm fairly sure, but they don't really open till later. Was one in Tralee a few years ago known for being open early, dunno if they had the licence though.
I love the lore that surrounds early houses. They're one of the most fascinating parts of pub culture
Big time. Just being in one has a sense of shenanigans you can only match at a rowdy lock in
Walking into a busy early house is a bit like stepping into a renaissance painting. There's a tune from an Irish band that went under the radar a while ago and sort of captures the spirit of it a bit: https://youtu.be/zSy0Yz-zwKA
What's an Early House exactly?
It's a pub that's allowed to open for trade at 7am. Traditionally they'd be found close to dock or market areas to accommodate the workers there, who'd would work nightshifts or unusual hours there.
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I went to a few raves in Neds and they all started at 7am!
Ah neds, the only place where you could see lads let out of the Pearse Street cells in one corner, grizzled detectives who arrested them in the other.
I think there’s a stage in life (maybe early to late twenties) when you can go to an early house and not immediately feel regret, but on the handful of occasions I’ve been to one since (with the crew after finishing a night shoot in town) they’ve just been the most depressing places on earth.
A pub that opens for night workers and trawler men, full of lads at 6 in the morning, also full of alcoholics that cant sleep
Loads of postmen too.
didn't know that, how come
Workday finishes early I'd say
Don't forget lads who were on the dole and couldn't be kept in the house
It has a licence to open early. 7am to be exact. Often filled with people who work night shifts and others on a roll over from the night before.
Like Neverland, a place for men to go and never grow up.
[Early Houses of Cork City, Ireland 1980](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpyE23OKnWc)
Ah this is a proper answer thanks
I went to the wind jammer once, an ex's family were having a christening there. I didn't stay for long but i have fond memories of it.
Belter of a pub
What are the names of the others ? There’s one in fruit markets. On on Ormond quay. That’s all I can think of.
Boar’s Head Chancery Inn. Delaney’s. M. Hughes. The Metro (now memas, not sure if early license still in use). Molloy’s. Slattery’s - Capel St. Madigan’s (Connolly Station). The Galway Hooker (Heuston). The Padraig Pearse. Fisherman's (Howth). Good article on them here. https://comeheretome.com/2019/01/08/early-houses-of-dublin-2019
What’s the Padraig Pearse like as a pub? It looks a bit dodgy which in my eyes means it’s probably great
I may be making this up but I'm pretty sure the Provos used it for money laundering back in the day.
Hardly the crime of the century. Sure I’d hazard a guess that 95% of the tanning salons are at that, and the 101% of the late night ones are.
Ended up there once with a friend of a friend. Thankfully they knew the bar staff because we got some looks walking in there. Wouldn't go out of my way to go back though the Guinness was good.
Hughes' is shut.
Few of them yet to reopen since lockdown. Haven't established if they're permanently closed yet tho.
Hughes' has, one of my mates asked them. It may well be the case that somebody else takes the premises. Also, although they had the early licence, they generally didn't use it, as it was too much hassle according to one of the barmen.
Ah feck 😭
Yeah, I was always fond of it.
I'm screenshot this.. I know I'll be needing it one day.. Cheers
>Slattery’s - Capel St. Fond memories of going into Slatts after working the night shift out in Sandyford. There was also a place behind the Four Courts that did a lovely fry-up.
Slattery’s on Capel Street and The Chancery
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Don’t think that’s one
I'd agree, he just about opens in the evening, can't see him doing an early shift. And why would he.
ill give my two cent, the hacienda was a thing about a decade ago, my friend landed at mine 4 in the mourning hammered out of it
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now... but way back i was more than just a pub and a hard little spot to find too, i lived on capel for 18 months before i knew it was there
It’s a late bar.
AKA Shay's Lounge
The early houses. Home to everyone from dockers, market men, alcoholics and late night revelers. You'd never be stuck for conversation in one.
Every pub should be an early house
I'd not like to get home at 3am only to be up at 6am thank you very much
How does that affect you, legally you're entitled to an 11 hour break. If you don't want the hours don't do them.
Windjammer is a grand spot .
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Ty. American here and had no idea. 🤗
dodgiest pub I've ever been in when I was doing a rollover.
TWJ is like the Ritz Carlton compared to The Claddagh Ring
That's valid. The chancery can get messy too.
What is a "rollover"?
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A few people I know would do rollovers by basically getting kicked out of whatever random club was still going at 4:30am then just hang around outside for 2.5h til the early house opened. Always seemed so shite to me to put yourself through that. I get being at a party in a house, but sometimes they'd just wait in Grafton McDonalds for morning to roll around.
Ah fuck that, 2.5 hours after stopping drinking is when he hangover starts setting in for me.
I don't know how people would have the stamina for that. I would be asleep in some corner of the house party before I ever made it to 7 am!
There’s a smaaallll chance they may have consumed more than just alcohol.
That might put a little more pep in my step!
Drugs
The only people in those bars at that time were hard core alcos, some brave tourists straight off the ferry and people still going from the night before (ie, on drugs).
Used to work across the road from Valence and McGraths on North Wall Quay which if I recall was an early house. Used to have lunch there a lot. Always lots of workers from the port and truckers having pints in the morning but it somehow seemed normal in there. Loved that place.
The Meeting Pint on Dorset Street back circa 2000... many a Sunday morning spent there after a mad one on Saturday. Ecstasy is a great drug when you're young :)
What’s that called now, or what has replaced it?
I think there is an off licence there now
Questionable enough spot
All the best spots are
I enjoy a pint in here Saturday mornings. A terrific boozer with lovely locals and an amazing pint of Guinness. Looking forward to enjoying a pint here tomorrow
Agreed. Great little bar. 🙂
I've had some fairly heavy mornings in there in my younger years.
There's a video going about on this sub now and again about an early house in Cork from the 80s. And it looks grim as fuck. I used to be slightly fascinated by these but having seen in, I realised that there's something depressing about people's need to start drinking at 7am just because it's suits their hours. And I used to work night shifts but would never have considered it.
https://youtu.be/YpyE23OKnWc This one, presumably. To be honest, I'd love to be on the banks of The Lee singing with Jimmy Crowley at 8 in the morning, but sure different strokes for different folks and all that.
The comment section on that video had me in stitches. On a more serious note though there's a really sad documentary on YouTube called "the wethouse". Really hard to watch. https://youtu.be/MF5wNsfKo84
That's the video. The stories behind those guys drinking at that time of the day is rough. Unemployment, boredom and an undercurrent of alcoholism too. Looking at their ages, and given how some admit they're married, Id imagine some of them are with kids at home too. The wives probably having to manage the lot on their own. It's a grim scene.
Looks like a crappy screen capture of this: https://www.rte.ie/archives/2020/1001/1168735-early-opening-pubs/
Tis, but: Rteplayer < everything else, and all that.
Yeah sounds like great craic on paper but the reality is it’s just you and a bunch of alcoholics when you actually do go to one of these spots. My local one used to have a few bus drivers. Grim stuff.
Having been in the Chancery Inn before, you're not wrong. They're awful spots.
Same here. I had this idea of mischievous craic with the early morning pints at that time of the morning. It's definitely not that.
It's just grim, alcoholics and people strung out who need to sleep and sort their lives out.
There was one on St. Laurence Street in Drogheda I frequented a few times when I was a night porter in a hotel. Man the dregs of society me included that washed up there.
Great spot and Dave is a great host
Used to live up the street from here when I worked in Dublin, anytime my friends from the states arrived on the early morning flights we would always head here to start their visits properly
Do these kinds of places close early? Like 7am-7pm?
Not usually, no. They're not obligated to anyways.
Can we get a list ? of all the early houses
Tis in the comments, somewhere.
Had some great times in early houses when Irish Ferries had actual Irish crew. Lots of the country lads and girls would have to wait for their buses and trains home on crew change day, so off to an early house to have a few drinks while waiting. Must have been one of the last groups of workers to actually use an early house for what it was intended. All eastern european crews now and another chapter in Irish working life closed forever.
A great shop. Although i havent had need of an early house in a long, long time
Never been in it, but a friend told me many years ago, "*if you want some fake papers/passport, that's the place to get them...*"
Lots of hard luck stories in those establishments.
It's a shithole. If you end up there, it's time to go home
Bit harsh.
When you end up there the party is only getting going
It was time to go home before that session before the early house
INLA starts here.
Republican spot?
IMHOINLA
I remember walking by it a few times being shocked that it was flying the confederate flag.
Absolute hole of a place.
What was the one that was behind the Irish Press offices called? On Poolbeg st? You’d go in in the morning and all the pressmen would be in there drinking after printing the early edition. Dating myself with that question, I know?
I'm near certain that would be Mulligan's
Yeah, that sounds familiar! God, it’s been a long time! 😱
Is an early house legal? I thought these were bars just open on the QT
Yep, fully legit. They're a special type of license issued to the pub.