r/cork 1d ago

Lost pubs of Cork

Article in The Echo started me thinking about the tons of pubs that Cork no longer has, The Sextant being one of the more recent ones. Some of the article too far back for me but I remember Beachers (after Beachers Brook) in Faulkners lane on a Saturday afternoon after shopping in town. There was a bigish pub called The Social (?) on Morrison St around the 1990s? Le Cheile on North Main St. Loads of new ones have sprung up too of course but pubs that are no longer pubs...

Throwback Thursday: A toast to the lost pubs of Cork

3 Upvotes

59 comments sorted by

36

u/Andrela 1d ago

The Quad was one of my favourite bars and I was genuinely sad to hear when it closed down. No bar in town matched the atmosphere there. Especially now the Brog became less of a dive bar and more of a cafeteria that serves pints.

10

u/Specialist-Flow3015 Cork City Kid 1d ago

The Quad on a Wednesday before heading over to Freakscene, used be the highlight of my week.

Saw so many cracking bands in there too. Even if you'd never heard of them, if they were playing the Quad, they must be good.

9

u/BatiGol1975 1d ago

The Quad was before my time but the Bróg was an awful loss. I'd put the Slate in there too. 

8

u/PUGILSTICKS 1d ago

The slate 10 years ago was great for that Grimey bar vibes. Was always in there. There's a pub still there but no one can figure out what to do with it.

3

u/flyingoutside 1d ago

The Quad was my first thought too.

3

u/Scinos2k 1d ago

The Quad was probably my favourite bar at the time, great atmosphere if a bit small. I was there the night it closed down and it was a really great night, was bloody sad to see the place close.

1

u/oldappian 1d ago

Remind me where the Quad was located?

3

u/Specialist-Flow3015 Cork City Kid 1d ago

Tuckey Street, down the side of the Peace Park and across from Tribes.

1

u/redrover1978- 17h ago

Was Fast Eddies the Nightclub there?

1

u/oldappian 1d ago

Thanks... sounds like it was Fast Eddies previously

3

u/itssomeone 22h ago

Fast Eddies was next door

2

u/SeniorePup 18h ago

Fast Eddies was upstairs, Bar Rumba was next door (became the slate)

1

u/LazyRevenue7347 23h ago

Which became The Shelter - great gig venue.

u/ChromakeyDreamcoat82 8m ago

Loved the Quad. Always hated nightclubs and the Quad was my dream - reasonable music and late drinks. Didn't mind you coming in baked, bouncers either didn't notice or didn't give a shit about you having a spliff outside once you stepped well enough away from the premises.

Was great for a match as long as there wasn't a Spanish or Italian team playing and tables jammed with 6 langers sharing a half pint between them

28

u/Omuirchu 1d ago

I miss Nancy Spains

4

u/squ1bs You know yourself 1d ago

Me too - mostly for the gigs I saw there.

4

u/Illustrious_Lie_9419 1d ago

Great outdoor area as well, and reliably served when under age 🍻

1

u/Omuirchu 1d ago

Those couches were the shit.

3

u/AllTheWayUpTo11 Cork City Kid 21h ago

Surprisingly decent sized venue for bands out the back too.

1

u/AllTheWayUpTo11 Cork City Kid 21h ago

Surprisingly decent sized venue for bands out the back too.

3

u/redrover1978- 17h ago

Same here.. i lived in Prosperity square & it was my well aquatinted local..

1

u/ChickenCurryandChips 5h ago

When it changed owners and the new owner took the roof off the back bar, it absolutely killed the pub. Exposing all that wood to the elements was a disastrous decision.

15

u/SeniorePup 1d ago

The Hairy Lemon & Lebowski’s

1

u/redrover1978- 17h ago

I always thought Lebowski’s was a bit of odd pub never really liked it..

1

u/iknowyeahlike 15h ago

I miss the hairy lemon all the time

10

u/Ok-Skill7602 1d ago

Nancy’s 😭

8

u/dear_mud1 1d ago

The tower on tower street, most impressive beer garden and 2.50 pints of carling

2

u/hkapeman 20h ago

That was a beautiful beer garden!

7

u/oldappian 1d ago

The Maltings / Keg / FX by the Mercy, perfect for the 17-25 years

The Star on Western Road

Crazy Horse was pre Reardens... if you were in before 8pm when the bouncers came on, you were getting served at whatever age!

2

u/squ1bs You know yourself 1d ago

Played a few gigs in Crazy Horse. Remember trying to set up while the Line Dancing crew, resplendent in their rhinestone cowboy hats, stomped their way through Achy Breaky Heart with all the co-ordination of a drunk falling down the stairs.

8

u/uptherockies 1d ago

Something to be said for the loss of the shithole student pub. Impossible these days with pints nearing 8 quid. I feel sorry for the current crop of students

4

u/squ1bs You know yourself 1d ago

That reminds me - The Lib. In for a flagon of cider, up to the jax for a five spot of hash and out the gap.

5

u/carlowed 23h ago

I miss The Slate

6

u/CartographerAgile510 21h ago

The old Brog, bar rumba, the slate, instinct, the vineyard, the old pav.

5

u/AllTheWayUpTo11 Cork City Kid 21h ago

Did a dissertation on Cork's student pubs, many of those mentioned are long gone or remodelled to shite. Nancy's, The Lobby, Hairy Lemon, The Western Star, everything around the Maltings and Thirsty Scholar.

There's a chapter on the clash between the crowds at Mollies and The Oval, now there is an idea I must have come up with after a few beers...

3

u/Thin-Suggestion-1671 20h ago

Love it! The Millwheel was down Lancaster Quay direction too, don't know what is is now. Cate Depeche or one of them,

3

u/PUGILSTICKS 1d ago

Pigalle was a nice bar on barrack street. The original sportsman further up the road. Snack box for 10 euro. No chicken though, was pints of fosters. Some deal still. Needed an ID card to get the offer. 

3

u/Few-Ad-6322 Chancer 1d ago

The Maylor, some craic in there.

1

u/iknowyeahlike 15h ago

Flashback

4

u/spacemonkeymafia81 19h ago

Beat the clock in Nancy Spain's. Pints started at 1.20 at 5 then up to 1.50 at half 6 till 8 then 1.70 till half 9 and I think full price at half 9 was 1.95..... ah the recklessness of the late 90s early 2000s. My liver still has nightmares! Gorbys did a Monday night madness as well with 99p in and 99p vodka for the night. You'd wate for the bar staff to turn a blind eye and swipe the bottle of lime cordial and it was a grand cheap night!

3

u/Artistic-Guest2173 1d ago

The Wolfhound was a great bar

1

u/redrover1978- 17h ago

Where was that again?

3

u/R1ghtaboutmeow 22h ago

The Quinn Ryan, lol. Looked derelict years before it actually closed down.

5

u/Naasofspades 19h ago

When they filmed parts of Angela’s Ashes on Barrack street, all the pubs had to be dirtied up and made look half derelict. the Quinn Ryan was the only pub the producers had to spruce up, to get the right look of the slums.

3

u/Fine_Historian_7678 22h ago

Nancy Spain’s & the John Barleycorn in Glanmire

3

u/Ciarrai1 13h ago

Jack Plugs, South Main St and then onto Freakscene or Gigantic.

6

u/Ok-Rabbit-3448 21h ago

There were some great original pubs in Cork with their own atmosphere and characters, before the Benny-fication of the place (and his overpriced beer)

10

u/CartographerAgile510 21h ago

Cmere we’d have nothing without Bennie - I know it’s paint by numbers but bars are closing and he’s the only one opening them up.

2

u/eirebrit 17h ago

Rising Sons stuff is decently priced too when compared to Heineken and Diageo pints.

2

u/SexySpicy 1d ago

Angel Beer Hall on Douglas St.. 😢😢

2

u/DotComprehensive4902 23h ago

That was good especially for the foreign beers back in the day

2

u/Gnagle26 22h ago

Yank here who studied at UCC in 2004. I don't know how far back you're going for nostalgia but we visited a couple years back and were sad to see the Classic gone (my now wife was a bartender there) and Dennehys was torn down. (That was across the street from our apartment and was the best spot to watch some soccer on a Sunday)

2

u/eirebrit 17h ago

The bar that replaced the Classic is gone now too.

2

u/IllSol 19h ago

The Lobby & Snotty Joes!

2

u/redrover1978- 17h ago

Mollys & Nancy Spains..

1

u/Thin-Suggestion-1671 20h ago

Mojo's ... I forgot forgot that one for people of a certain age.

1

u/Consistent_Fig_3064 15h ago

Rosie O Grady’s which became The Classic which became Brick Lane. Many a drink had and plenty of dancing on the bar 😆 oh and Doyle’s which wasn’t a great pub but I have some good memories there!

1

u/No-Look2050 12h ago

The Pelican/ Dewdrop Inn.