The Oldest Pub in Ireland

Welcome to Sean's Bar in Athlone, Ireland

We checked into our hotel late on Monday evening, ready to get some sleep and jump on an airplane in the morning.  That's when the concierge told us about Sean's Bar, located just a short walk away.  It not only happened to be the best pub in town, but it claims to actually be the OLDEST BAR IN IRELAND!  Such is not an idle claim, as with all likelihood, the oldest bar in an old place like Ireland might put it in the running for OLDEST BAR IN EUROPE?!  Since we had already had the BEST & FIRST PIZZA IN ITALY (click for story) we would have to stay true to form and check it out!  

A pint of Guinness... in memory of the record!  (Are the two companies - beer & records - related?  And if so, did it all begin as some sort of pub challenge?  Research is in order...)

We left our hotel and headed in the direction of Sean's Bar.  They were perhaps the best directions I had ever received: Make a right out of the hotel, over the river on the cobblestone bridge, then a left at the castle.  You don't get directions like that back in Tucson.  When we arrived, we found a happening place that was sort of like an Irish version of Cheers, only with great music, wall to wall people, and some very interesting artifacts on the wall.

Christie has a soft spot for old men.

According to the legend, the bar dates back to the year 900 AD.  It was then that the meager pub was established along the banks of the Shannon River in what was then Luain's Inn (as if anyone reading along would nod and say, 'Yeah... I remember that place.')  There is a continuous line of traceable bar owners to that date, and during renovations old coins minted by landlords for barter were found amongst the ancient walls.  While some argue this fact, it still was enough to fool me into having a pretty darn good time.  

Ze Germans.  Our new friend the "border guard" is in the middle.

We settled in by grabbing a round of drinks and finding some seats near the live music.  The bar was dimly lit and featured a stockpile of random wall-coverings.  There is still a stone fireplace that burns wood, and supposedly the warped floor slopes back towards the river in case of a flood.  But all of these facts were trivial to the story told by a group of Germans that we met.

Amongst this group of friendly Germans was a man who told us how he served as border guard for East Berlin during the time of the cold war.  He still vividly remembers when he was working along the Wall when he got the call from his superiors to "open it up."  I can only imagine being there for that historical moment, yet this average looking fellow (who spent the evening showing us pictures of his dog on his cell phone) was right there in the thick of it!  This is what makes traveling fun - the people you meet and the stories you hear.  Meeting someone like that far outweighs the memory I will have of a dimly lit bar that claims to be Ireland's oldest. 

How a pub that's been around since 900 AD should look in a photo - black and white!

~ J. Twice