Right across from Connolly Station, tucked under the railway bridge, sits Cleary’s Pub, a time capsule of old Dublin.
Opened in 1846 as The Signal House, it earned a mention in James Joyce’s Ulysses. The Cleary family took over in the early 1900s and, thanks to the bridge blocking out much of the daylight, didn’t have to pay for electricity.
Jim Cleary, the owner, was a close friend of Michael Collins and Harry Boland, both regulars here during the War of Independence. Cleary and Boland played hurling for Faughs, with Cleary winning two All Ireland medals and four Leinster medals.
Collins and Boland used Cleary’s as a safe meeting spot to plan operations, often gathering intelligence from railway and dock workers drinking here about British troop movements.
Step inside today and you’ll find it almost unchanged..the original mahogany bar, ornate ceiling, wooden partitions, match strikers, mirrors, tiled entrance and timber floors all still in place.
The Cleary family ran the pub for over 90 years until 1995. It’s been beautifully preserved by Dessie Hanlon ever since. He had worked in the pub, and both his father and grandparents had been regulars.
