O'Neills

Suffolk Street, Dublin 2

O'Neills of Suffolk street is a vast labyrinth of a bar. Its rapid growth over the past few years has seen it annexe sections of adjoining buildings subsuming them into the central pubhive. This rambling chaotic approach to renovation and expansion has given it a confusing jumbled layout. On the plus side the "Jaysus we'll fit a few more in dere just grand" school of interior design has created numerous little nooks and crannies where it is possible to secrete yourself for a relatively quiet pint.

O'Neills is not an establishment that provokes many feelings of affection or rage. Some pubs and clubs can make me incoherent with blinding, incandescent, righteous fury and even fewer with ecstatic rapture. But O'Neills is just middle of the road. As a place to drink it is adequate providing for all the average pub drinkers needs whilst not descending into the outrages of taste or indecency so favoured by other city centre venues.

In part this is due to its inclusion in the Dublin Literary Pub Crawl. This refreshing enterprise is based on the ancient Gaelic custom of getting floothered and talking utter shite to strangers. Gullible visitors are for a fee brought to string of pubs in which some jaded hack or other once passed out in a pool of piss and Guinness. Judging by the average Irish writer's propensity for indulging in liquid contemplation in seeking creative inspiration, I hazard it would be impossible to spill a pint in Dublin without darkening the arse rut of some sodden scribbler or other. Normally this would never deter the dauntless Irish entrepreneur from plunging his trembling sweaty hands into the bulging wallets of eager tourists; nevertheless, the fact remains that the Literary Pub Crawl is a somewhat more refined tourist pursuit than hunting for stuffed leprechauns and other tat on Nassau Street and this has restrained O'Neills from completely mutating into some hideous Oirish freakhouse. The irony being that though our crawlers may ooh and ahh at their surroundings, chances are they are gazing in respectful literary wonder at the walls of what was once Biddy Murphy's "Beauty & Whale Blubber Emporium" or Jem 'The Butcher' O'Caseys "Giblets n' Pie Shop".

The crowd in O'Neills is generally relaxed and fairly laid back. The lack of bouncers and door policy mean it attracts a broad range of drinkers and the absence of this usual pretension is a welcome one.

Unusually for its size and location O'Neills keeps very strict opening hours, closing up on the button and chucking out the punters fairly sharpish. It remains to be seen whether the recent easing of the licensing laws will change this policy.

O'Neills is a grand place to go if you are meeting people before moving on, or if seeking a respite from the tawdry pretentiousness of the city centre's more modern additions to the drinking community. All in all I would rate it as pretty flat and lacking in atmosphere, definitely for use only as an emergency venue if nowhere else is available.