Come Here To Me!

W.Ryans
Parkgate Street
Dublin 8

Ryans of Parkgate Street, photo by flickr user:send2mkelly

I pass Ryans on the bus a few times a week, but can’t recall having a pint here before, and don’t think I’ve set foot inside the place since the Euro arrived. So, a first pint (I didn’t start that early…) in a pub that often finds itself on any list of the ‘best pints’ in Dublin.

Before you get to the bar however, you’re taken aback by the look of the place. Pieces like the clock above the bar and the classic light installations date back to a magnificent pub of old, and the walls are kept clean of any ‘Ole Ole’ type nonsense that can sometimes take away from a pub. This place dates back to the 1830s, and would not take well to being messed with. A few old snaps of the area and the city, a branded mirror or two, sin é. Perfect. Such a beautiful pub would be ruined otherwise.

The pint comes in at a fantastic €4, the same as the recently reviewed Hop House and a bargain in Dublin in all truths. It is unfaultable, though I’m the only drinker here- in the company of a driver, a child, and a brandy drinker. I find nothing wrong with it, and none of the people around the bar seem to have a problem with it either. In fact, they’re coming in thick and heavy.

Plates everywhere, and plenty of stuffed faces too. The food here is said to be fantastic, and people look content. Only hours from the rugby match, some of the younger punters have the look of men stabling the stomach before they dare touch another. Others are tucking into plates of food while reading the weekends Irish Times, something they may well do every week. I’ve rarely been let down by a Dublin pub with a fine reptuation for food, as such a reputation is not earned too easy in a city with more pubs than actual restaurants.

I hear a crowd, and am taken aback. The telly is on, and the Dubs about to take to the pitch. Fair enough. Ryans have the right attitude to the television it seems, nobody came here to watch Nationwide and there is no reason for the television to be on bar a green or blue jersey taking to a pitch. I can work with that. The absence of a television altogether is one of the reasons I fell completely in love with Kavanaghs in Glasnevin for example.

Parkgate Street is a little bit of a journey from town some would say, but it is and it isn’t. It’s right on the doorstep of the Phoenix Park, a stonesthrow from some fantastic museums and sights, and the bus stops right across the road. It’s well worth a visit.