Community memory
Boards.ie memory links O'donoghues with music and sessions. PubHub V1 treats this as published forum memory: not a settled fact, but a linked record of what people said, remembered, joked about, or claimed online.
1 source lead · 2008
Read source trail🏭 Heritage-listed building
Built: c.1810 · NIAH rating: Regional
A Georgian house that was converted into a public house and has been long established as a celebrated music venue. The proportions of the building are characteristic of the period and the building retains salient features, such as parts of a Victorian pubfront and of the interior cornice to the bar. Along with its neighbour, No. 15, with which it is now amalgamated, this building contributes to the historic character and urban grain of central Dublin.
🆕 Notable pub
From the record · Deep research
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.
Revenue's renewed-liquor-licence register lists licence ref S0029 as a Publican's Licence (7-Day Ordinary) for O'DONOGHUES at 14 Merrion Row and 15 Merrion Row in Dublin city, with O'DONOGHUES (MERRION ROW) LIMITED as licensee.[1]
NIAH identifies O'Donoghue's at 14 Merrion Row as a regional-rated building with architectural interest.[2]
NIAH records its original use as a house and its survey use as a public house.[2]
NIAH describes the building as an attached three-bay four-storey house with integral carriage arch, built c.1820, with a c.1890 shopfront.[2]
The NIAH record says No. 14 is amalgamated with No. 15 and that a shared alleyway leads to a courtyard and outdoor bar.[2]
NIAH describes the building as a Georgian house converted into a public house and long established as a celebrated music venue.[2]
The Irish Times reported in 2025 that O'Donoghues (Merrion Row) Ltd was owned by the Barden family, including publican Oliver Barden.[3]
The same report said the Barden family acquired the 15 Merrion Row establishment in 1988 and had run it since then.[3]
The Irish Times reported that the bar began as an unlicensed drinking establishment in the 18th century before later operating legally.[3]
The same article said O'Donoghue's became a traditional Irish music hub under Paddy and Maureen O'Donoghue during the 1960s.[3]
The Irish Times also said The Dubliners first began playing at the bar and later became a regular fixture there.[3]
PubHub lore
Established
Built between c.1810 and c.1900.
Architecture
A Georgian house that was converted into a public house and has been long established as a celebrated music venue. The proportions of the building are characteristic of the period and the building retains salient features, such as parts of a Victorian pubfront and of the interior cornice to the bar. Along with its neighbour, No.
Community memory
Archive time depth
same-year archive trace across 1 dated Boards.ie archive lead.
Archive profile
O'donoghues has 1 linked Boards.ie memory lead around music and sessions. PubHub V1 publishes this as forum memory: what people said online, connected back to the source post where possible.
V1 source
Boards.ie readable-first memory queue
Memory shape
Music and sessions
Correction loop
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V1 shows linked forum memory and local talk as memory, not as PubHub fact-checking.
Music and sessions
Boards.ie memory links this pub with music, sessions, singing, gigs, or pub-night rhythm.
Archive source trail
These are linked Boards.ie leads from pre-2026 discussion. PubHub V1 shows the linked trail as forum memory and uses the correction path for bad matches, missing context, or pages that need checking.
2008Boards V1 Labelled Memory
Boards.ie forum memory
Boards.ie memory links O'donoghues with music and sessions. PubHub V1 treats this as published forum memory: not a settled fact, but a linked record of what people said, remembered, joked about, or claimed online.
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