Established
Trading on Poolbeg Street since 1854. The original Mulligan's premises was on Thomas Street, established 1782.
JOHN MULLIGAN
8 POOLBEG STREET &, GROUND FLOOR & BASEMENT OF 9 POOLBEG STREET
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8 POOLBEG STREET &, GROUND FLOOR & BASEMENT OF 9 POOLBEG STREETCheck with the pub before travelling.The regulars
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Recorded pub details
- Listed address
- 8 POOLBEG STREET &, GROUND FLOOR & BASEMENT OF 9 POOLBEG STREET
Preserved directory details. Recorded information can change.
From the record · Deep research
What the archives say
Independent reporting and heritage records on this pub, drawn from a curated list of Irish news outlets, Revenue Commissioners, NIAH, and the Dictionary of Irish Architects. Every claim links to its primary source.
Listing historyCultural mentionsArchitecture
Revenue's renewed-liquor-licence register lists licence ref S0035 as a Publican's Licence (7-Day Ordinary) for JOHN MULLIGAN at 8 Poolbeg Street and the ground floor and basement of 9 Poolbeg Street, with MULLIGAN'S (POOLBEG STREET) LIMITED as licensee.[1]
NIAH records John Mulligan, 8 Poolbeg Street, as a regional-rated public house with architectural, artistic, cultural, and social interest.[2]
NIAH dates the building to 1870-1890 and records its original and current use as a public house.[2]
The NIAH description identifies a carved timber shopfront, timber-framed display windows, panelled timber doors, and a carved and panelled timber interior.[2]
NIAH says the building was a public house in the early nineteenth century and that John Mulligan, grocer, wine and spirit dealer, became proprietor in 1853.[2]
NIAH says the building was rebuilt in the 1880s and that a lounge extending into the neighbouring building was constructed c.1890.[2]
NIAH links the pub to James Joyce's Dubliners by identifying it as the setting for a scene in Counterparts.[2]
The Irish Times reported in 2015 that Declan Dunne's Mulligan's: Grand Old Pub of Poolbeg Street was launched at the pub by RTE newscaster Eileen Dunne.[3]
That Irish Times report said Dunne's book traced the pub from the 1780s, when the first Mulligan put his name over the door.[3]
The same article said John Mulligan was the last Mulligan to own the pub in the 1920s before it passed to Mick Smith and later to the Cusack brothers Tommy and Con with Paddy Flynn.[3]
Reviewed pub lore
Local notes
Literary links
Mentioned by name in James Joyce's short story *Counterparts*. Joyce is said to have spent long stretches writing at the counter; the room where the *Counterparts* arm-wrestle takes place is still pointed out — known to staff and regulars as 'The Joyce Room.'
Architecture
The pub walls carry posters, photographs and showbills going back to the early 19th century. Among the framed memorabilia: the autographed Judy Garland portrait.
Regulars
John F. Kennedy, then a Hearst Newspaper journalist, drank here in the mid-1950s and was shown Joyce's favoured perch at the bar. Judy Garland, performing at the Theatre Royal, drank here too — her autographed photograph is still on the wall.
Reputation
The journalists' pub of 20th-century Dublin. Staff from *The Irish Times* and the former *Irish Press* drank here alongside Theatre Royal celebrities, dockers and Trinity students.
House rules
Be sound. Welcome newcomers. Keep it about the pub.