MAGIC BOOZER MADE OF THE WHITE STUFF!
A bloomin' fantastic pub for all Lilywhites and visitors to enjoy
JOHNNY DUNNE'S, NEWBRIDGE, CO. KILDARE
THE Old Commando led us down the back street of Newbridge in County Kildare as if he was the town's Lord Mayor.
About half way down he stalled, gazed across the road at Johnny Dunne's pub and announced: "This is the place for me."
When we quizzed him about his insistence of visiting this particular pub, he said that he knew the flow on the porter here would be good.
"Did you not see all the empty kegs outside? I counted no less than 19," he announced as he sunk the first pint of porter that came over the long-crowded counter at €3.75.
But we all knew that his real reason for going in here was because he heard it was a good GAA pub and he wanted to sample the atmosphere, ahead of the big football games between Kildare and Down today.
In fairness to him, he found the right pub.
Not alone did he get involved in the football banter, he also learned the first verse of a local song that was being sung during our
stay there. At first we thought the old guy near the counter area was singing 'Danny Boy' but lending a closer ear we discovered
that the words had been localised.
The Old Commando scribbled them down and we had to endure it all the way back to Dublin.
"Oh, Johnny Doyle, the Lily Whites are calling,
"From Allenwood way down to Ballytore,
"The summers gone, and all the champs have fallen,
"Oh, Johnny Doyle let's show them how you score.
The Old Commando was crazy about this establishment and said that apart from the Guinness, the atmosphere, the banter and the singing, there was just something about the pub that made it magic.
He was only minutes inside when he was chatting to some of the locals and in this part of the country you talk either football or horse racing. Dunne's is a great GAA and racing house and the walls are adorned with framed county shirts including Galway, Tipperary, Cork, Offaly, Dublin, Wexford and of course Kildare.
The Old Commando observed that there was no Down jersey!
This pub is very well laid out. It has three separate sections in the old original brick and our troops were high in their praise of the section in the middle that resembled an old-style farmhouse kitchen with the open fire and the small window.
If you get bored talking football and/or backing horses you can play darts or the poker machines at Dunne's and you can certainly
relax on the great variety of stools, chairs and bench seating.
The timber floor was spotless and the barman was very friendly.
Dunne's have also introduced what they term 'Recession Busters' on Tuesdays with Guinness at €3 while lager, cider, bottles and spirits are only €3.50.
On our visit to the toilets we found cigarette butts in the ceramic urinal, which was otherwise very clean. There are two sinks and soap detergents.
However, we were disappointed to find that the 'start' button on both electric dryers was missing.
Overall, we were delighted that we called to Johnny Dunne's. It's a real Kildare pub and the punters were your honest, down-to-earth
drinkers.
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THE RAILWAY BAR, NEWBRIDGE
THIS boozer was buzzing when we called and we were not surprised to find that the conversation, where we parked ourselves, was football, football and more football.
"God, isn't it hard to believe that it's 82 years since they won the All-Ireland? A feckin; lifetime," said the Old Commando.
We noticed that they have a framed account of Pub Spy's last visit hanging proudly behind the counter in a frame.
One end of the counter boasts a sign that reads, 'Kop End', so you can see that it's not all GAA and racing in The Railway Bar.
The television was blaring in our left ear, with a radio speaker in our right ear and no one (including us) interested in either.
The second section was dark and some of the punters there were a little bit boisterous. We contented ourselves on the small bench seats opposite the counter.
The four urinals and cubicle were clean in the men's toilet, with everything in order.
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A FRIEND of Pub Spy often mentions how much he loves going for a Wrassler.