Did you notice the changes this morning?
Those of you who commute into work by strolling through the city centre may have noticed that some of Dublin city’s most famous bars have changed names overnight.
Toners Yard is now ‘Tobin’s’, The Waterloo is ‘Finnegan’s’, and Reilly’s on Merrion Row is ‘Cole’s’.
As well as the new names, the aforementioned bars also have a little more in common. They were all favourite haunts of some of the country’s literary greats who liked to stop in and get their creative juices flowing.
Dracula author Bram Stoker was a frequent visitor to Toners, and even though he wasn’t a pub fan, WB Yeats once stopped in for a glass of sherry, brought by Oliver St. John Gogarty on his first visit to a traditional Irish pub.
The Waterloo Bar was a favourite spot of Patrick Kavanagh and Borstal Boy Brendan Behan and, more recently, Seamus Heaney even reportedly stopped in. Kavanagh, Behan and their comic genius contemporary Flann O’Brien are also known to have a sat on a stool in pubs further down Baggot Street and Merrion Row, with names today including Foley’s and Reilly’s.
Going on the theme of Irish literary greats, the 47th annual Hennessy Literary Awards was held this week, awarding some of Ireland’s greatest minds with prizes you can’t just simply buy.
Winners included Aaron Finnegan who came first the First Fiction category, Louise G. Cole who claimed Emerging Poetry for her own and Manus Boyle Tobin who took home Emerging Fiction, as well as being named the Hennessy New Irish Writer of the Year.
So, for 48 hours this weekend, to celebrate their commitment and dedication to modern Irish literature and creativity – Toner’s Yard, The Waterloo and Reilly’s will be known as Tobin’s, Finnegan’s and Cole’s to highlight their stellar commitment to the cause.
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