The Swan Bar – a Victorian jewel

The Aungier Street pub is a treasure trove of history and artefacts.

^{Photo: Courtesy The Swan Bar}

Standing on the corner of York Street and Aungier Street, the well preserved Swan Bar is a reminder of what people love about traditional pubs: a nice-looking pint sitting on the counter, a relaxed atmosphere, a few newspapers lying around, and some gentle banter going on between customers.  

Looking around the bar, there is much to admire – original fittings, stained glass windows, beer taps, and original floor tiles.   

The Liberty is talking with Ronan Lynch, third generation publican, who tells me that there has been a pub on the site since 1661.

“It is called the Swan because back in the day people couldn’t read or write, and the symbol was easily recognisable. The street at the time was the widest street in the British Isles and was one of the first streets outside the walled city of Dublin.”

This Victorian building dates to 1810 and the bar to 1897, and there are only about 12 such bars intact in the city.

The original bar taps are still intact (though not working!).  The counter is made of Scottish granite, brought over from Scotland and used in pubs and mortuaries – and always the sign of a good Victorian bar. The floor is all mosaic, laid by Italian workmen, very prominent in the older buildings in the city centre. The wood is mainly mahogany.

^{Photo: Mary Phelan}

Snugs were a prominent feature of Victorian pubs. Originally, inside the main door to the left was a ladies’ snug, which had a separate entrance from the hallway outside as women were not allowed into pubs at that time. There was a little bell there they could ring when they wanted to place an order. Later, the snug was replaced by a lounge to accommodate men and women, while the bar was kept intact.

When Ronan’s granddad bought the pub in the 1930s, his five sons, including Ronan’s father, Sean, worked there. Being a publican back then was hard work. Beers had to be bottled and corked. Glasses had to be washed by hand. Wooden casks were hand rolled into the pub and left to rest for a week. Lynch tells me his father had more than 20 staff working there at that time.

The Lynchs labelled their own whiskey, and at Christmas, his grandfather sold alcohol to people in the surrounding area, as this was before the arrival of off licences. Changes occurred, however, in the 1950s. Refrigeration came in. The hand pulled taps in the middle of the bar came out, and glass washers were introduced.  Guinness went from a porter to a stout in the 1960s. The number of staff dwindled.

^{Bust of Sean Lynch. Photo: Mary Phelan}

Lynch brings me over to the window and proudly shows me the bust of his dad, Sean Lynch. perched on the sill of the pub. The bust was commissioned and presented to his father in 2009 in honour of his sporting achievements. His father was, he says, the first publican to play rugby for Ireland. He played for Leinster in the 1960s and later played for Ireland in the 1970s. He was picked for the British and Irish Lions team in 1971, and they beat New Zealand that year in New Zealand, the first time in a test series for 128 years. His Lion’s cap is on display, as are his Leinster and several other jerseys. He is in the Irish Rugby Hall of Fame and also in the World Hall of Fame in New Zealand.

^{Sean Lynch Lions Cap. Photo: Mary Phelan}

The pub is also rich in history.  It was occupied by rebels and used as a signalling post between the College of Surgeons and Jacobs in the Easter Rising in 1916 and during the War of Independence it was used as a vantage point to shoot at the British soldiers who used to walk down from Rathmines. In 1922, it was the last place to be occupied by the anti-Treaty forces in Dublin.