The Brazen Head

Ireland’s oldest pub The Brazen Head,  located on Bridge Street, Dublin, dates back to 1198.

Photographs from 1916, American police badges and money notes adorning the walls provides vibrance and character.

Custodian John Hoyne was more than happy give a tour. Mr Hoyne has been working at the Brazen head since 2004 and considers himself ‘lucky’ to do so.It’s just one of those pubs that you just love. Pubs across the world are trying to copy this atmosphere.The American police officers just love bringing their badges. There is a room completely full of badges. After the Gathering [a tourism-led initiative in 2013] we got a big leather-bound book so that people can sign in and leave a little message, rather than sticking dollars on the walls – that’s our third volume now.

John Hoyne // Lauren Fetherston

Robert Emmet lived here and wrote the draft of a ‘Proclamation of Ireland’, which we have hanging up there, long before the lads went up to the GPO.  It is so high here on the top floor, you could see the British coming, and escape and be gone. So this is why Robert Emmet lived here and when his rising was scuttled he went off and went up to Harold’s Cross where he was arrested. Emmet was then hung, drawn and quartered up in Thomas Street.

The only people who come upstairs here are psychics because they say the place is just riddled with ghosts. I don’t believe in any of that myself. I’ve an old phone in there that is not connected and they picked it up and their giga meter just went off the scale. I’m saying “Get me outta here!” They did this audio thing up here and then rang me a few days later after analysing it and said “Is there a clock in the part where we were?” I told them no. They said all they could hear was “Tick tick tick”.

Couple of famous faces drop in from time-to-time like Dermot O’Leary. Tom Jones played here back in 2010 and U2 as well. We’ve music seven days a week. We’ve a great Sunday session as well. We do our ballads and our traditional sessions and it goes down really well.

The tourists just love it here.