Tasty pints
According to the Rough Guide, the Beggars Bush was considered by the British to be “ a lawless area on the edge of Dublin.” Things have changed a lot over the years and these days the price tags on houses are the only criminal element still resident in the borough.
So right in the middle of this fairly affluent part of Dublin 4, it is heart-warming to find a boozer that doesn’t rob your eyes and come back for the lashes.
When I told my Spanish mate Xavier that a pint of St. James’ Gate finest was only €3.80 in here he looked at me as if I had just told him I wanted his babies. Xavi, a newcomer to our shores, has no experience of that time, not so long ago, when any combination of drink, crisps, fags etc. cost less than a fiver. He has come to Ireland in an era when it is impossible to enter a bar with less than five bills in your pocket, unless your poison is Pringles.
Go to the Beggars on Friday after work and the place is buzzing. The front courtyard is packed with all sorts: the young, the old, the pleasantly tipsy and the chilled observer.
Inside is a nice, clean, simple bar that doesn’t seek approval. The pint is world class, poured expertly by a staff that are positively sound. The whole place has an atmosphere and smell of proper pub [The aroma of farts does not constitute a proper pub smell]. Add to that, that this is one establishment where the Celtic Mutt (eat that McWilliams) has yet to cock its capitalist leg to leave the foul stench of class division, and you have a classy classless classic Dublin pub. You’ll see the lads from the taxi trade exchanging pleasantries and banter with the chaps from the medical profession in here.
I sat down with Alan and Noel, two regulars. They told me that the original owner’s family still runs the place.
“That’s him up on the wall there,” said Noel pointing at one of the many photos that add a real sense of history to the place. “Jack Ryan. He was from Tipperary originally.”
Between them Noel and Alan went through a whole history of the place.
“ They were going to build a concert hall here in the 60s and name it after JFK but the OPW ran out of money,” said Noel.
“ Thanks be to Jaysus,” said Alan lifting his eyebrows over his glasses.
I had to agree with Alan. The JFK Concert Hall instead of the Beggars Bush? Now that would have been criminal.
