Here is a very interesting account from the summer of 1982 of fifteen men and women from the gay community who visited a total of eight pubs in Dublin city centre and recorded their experiences.
Credit: Gay Pride Week 1982. NGF Newsletter, July 1982. Report of GPW Pub Zap, unattributed (probably Bill Foley or Liam Whitelaw).
I found it on the excellent Irish Queer Archive facebook page.
The eight pubs visited were The Viking, The Oak Tree, The Grannery (sic), The Clarence Hotel, The Lord Edward, The Castle Inn, Rices and Fives.
I thought it would be interesting to collate the experiences of the group in each pub and find out whether that particular establishment is still open 31 years later.
1. The Viking, 75 Dame Street.
Some of the group were allowed in, others were not. This did not seem to have been directly to with sexual orientation but apparently due to the fact that three of the women had gotten into an argument with the barman the previous evening. We have previously about how written how The Viking has been described as the first bar in the city to be owned by a gay proprietor and to be opened specifically as a gay bar.
Today it is known as Brogans.
2. The Oak Tree, 81 Dame Street
The group were served here without any issues but left after a few drinks as it was too noisy. A couple of older gay men have mentioned online (see here and here) that this bar was gay-friendly in the 1980s.
Today it is known simply as The Oak
3. The Granary, 35-37 East Essex Street
Though quickly becoming “the largest and most conspicuous” group and “loudly discuss(ing) gay politics”, the service was “friendly and efficient”.
Today it is known as Bad Bob’s, before that it was called The Purty Kitchen.
4. The Clarence Hotel, 6-8 Wellington Quay (with an entrance on East Essex Street)
The group was refused service here being told by a bouncer that “this is not your kind of place”.
Today is still The Clarence. It was taken over by Bono, the Edge and Harry Crosby in 1992.
5. The Lord Edward, 23 Christchurch Place
Ushered upstairs where “there would be no room”, the group (who were wearing Pink Triangle badges) were then threatened that the police would be called. Presumably if they didn’t leave.
Today it is still known as The Lord Edward.
6. The Castle Inn, 5-7 Lord Edward Street
Fairly empty on arrival, the group were all served here though “not without a little resentment”. Three women left the pub when the gay group sat down in a table beside them.
Today it is known as The Bull & Castle.
7. Rice’s, 141 Stephens Green/1 South King Street
It was mentioned in the piece that a smaller group had tried to have a drink in Rices but were refused.
This is quite interesting as Rice’s has been widely described as being gay-friendly from as early as the 1960s to mid 1980s when it was demolished to make way for the Stephens Green Shopping Centre.
Letter to Irish Times re: knocking down of Rices. 28 Jan 1986
8. Fives, 55 Dame Street
A smaller number of the group were also refused here earlier in the evening.
After much searching, I cannot find anymore information about a pub in Dublin in the early 1980s called ‘Fives’.
(Edit: Facebook commenters Tommy Doran and Vince Donnelly have helped solve the mystery. Fives was the name of a indie club on Dame Street. It later became The Underground. It is now Club Lapello, “Dublin’s longest established Lapdancing club”)
