I've
tried several times over the last couple of years to
review O'Donoghues but I've never been able to get past
the front door. The place is simply too packed.
I could have tried to
review it on the basis of past memories but the fact of
the matter is that those recollections are simply too
hazy. Night is O'Donoghue's (back in the days when it was
possible to spend a night there) were invariably fleeting
half remembered affairs. Booze-ups in other words.
The other concern
about raiding the memory banks for a review , of course,
is that O'Donoghue's might have been razed and rebuilt in
the interime. Its happened to so many other places, after
all.
But I finally made it
past the rickety wooden door last week, by adopting a
cunning tactic of going along in the afternoon, and i'm
happy to say that O'Donoghue's looks much the same as it
ever did ( I think).
One of the worlds
greatest bars is a place in New Orleans called Lafitte's
Blacksmith Shop, at the dark end of Bourbon Street in the
French Quarter, and O'Donoghue's would be Dublin's nearest
equivalent.
Like Lafitte's,
O'Donoghue's has been built without reference to
any architectural guide, or even a casual glance at a
geometry text book. The lines slant all over the place -
particularly the floor, which bucks and slopes like a
newspaper that's been left too long in the sun.
And like it's
legendary New Orleans counterpart, O'Donoghue's is
pleasingly gloomy, both by day and night. It's never
possible to be certain just exactly what is going on in
the various nooks and crannies but i guess that adds to
the charm of both places.
Similarities with
Backsmith Shop end there, however. Dublin doesn't have the
swampy heat of the Big Easy and, particularly at this time
of the year. O'Donoghues can be nippy. Fortunately they
know not to serve Guinness too cold but even that can't
save you in January; hot whiskeys are the order of the
day.
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The other
thing that reminds you that you're in Dublin rather than
Dixieland is the complete absence of jazz, blues or Cajun
references-instead there are copious posters of Ronnie
Drew.
The place is a
virtual shrine to the Dubliners, reflecting the fact that
the band were, and for all I know still are, regular
visitors to O'Donoghue's. The framed copy of a 1987 front
page from the Irish Press is not there because of
the picture of the unshaven young Bartholemew Ahern,
amusing though the shot is. No it's there for the far more
important reason that Ronnie and friends are also in the
photo, teaching Bertie a few chords.
But whatever about
kitsch points-and there's a lot in O'Donoghue's, right
down to the Galouiese-smoking french tourists-it's a great
place.
I'd rate O'Donoghue's
the best pub in the Baggot Street area, a compliment that
has less value than it might have when Doheny and
Nesbitt's was in its prime, but which I think is still
high.

The
Pint : A throwback to a more
civilised ear: the Guinness is not too cold and relatively
affordable at £2.49 The
Food : Big ham and cheese rolls are about as
sophisticated as it gets, but they're tasty enough and
reasonable value at £2 The
Music Traditional music sessions are apparently
famous in O'Donoghue's. The
Hours : Normal pub hours.

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