We know the pub is an institution, but OG Old Man Pubs – doubly so. While all our new bars are leaning crafty, cocktailey, with good grub, the old man pubs of the city have remained steadfastly frill-free. They have scampi fries, Tayto or Manhattan if you’re lucky. The line-up is the same few beers it has been for forty years. The bartender is a curmudgeon with a heart of gold and probably has some familial connection to 1916 or Phil Lynott. These days there is one new aspect that sticks out: Young people.
That traditional reticence to hop on a trend has given them character in spades, and it looks like the rite of passage that is embracing the old man pub is happening to Gen Z. As these young adults age they’re becoming a generation that is constantly searching for authenticity in a world where that quality is increasingly hard to find. Dublin has many pubs that transport you back in time to a world untouched by the constant churn of trends. Places where you don’t need to prove anything, where wealth and status are irrelevant. The pints are cheap, the company unpretentious, and the atmosphere genuine. And crucially, no one is making videos around you. People are more about the moment when they’re in these old man pubs and less about the gram.
But beyond their nostalgic allure, old-man pubs offer something even more tangible: affordability. In Dublin, where a pint can easily set you back €7 or more, these pubs offer a welcome reprieve from the financial strain of modern life. In places like The Snug, The Auld Triangle and McNeill’s, you can get almost get three pints for the price of two in others. These places have become a lifeline for younger patrons struggling with the rising cost of living. For them, it’s not just about cheap drinks; it’s about finding a place where they can sit and relax without the pressure to spend excessively. As one pub-going Gen Z-er put it in an interview with The Independent, “It’s not cool to be seen flaunting money anymore.”
These days, it’s ‘cool’ to get a bargain and share with your friends how they can save money. In a world where the cost of everything—from rent to groceries—is skyrocketing, the five euro pint in the slightly sticky old man pub is a kind of win. A nail in the coffin of late-stage capitalism. A sort of refuge.
There’s also something aspirational about these spaces. The older patrons who frequent them represent a life that many young people feel is increasingly out of reach. For many of today’s twenty and thirty-somethings, retirement feels like a distant fantasy. By the time the current generation reaches their sixties, the retirement age may well have crept into the seventies. The idea of having the time and financial security to spend your days propping up the bar, nursing a pint, feels like an unattainable dream. “It’s weirdly aspirational,” says one anonymous Instagram meme lord I know. “Less work, less stress, and more actual life.”
Of course, the revival of these pubs is not just an urban phenomenon. In rural Ireland, old man pubs have been struggling for years, hit hard by changing social patterns, drink-driving laws, and the pandemic. More than 450 pubs in Ireland have closed since the onset of Covid-19; for context, that’s two pubs that have shuttered every week since 2020. Rising costs, dwindling customers, and the looming threat of even more closures have threatened the old man pub for years. Many of these types of pubs have been passed down through families for generations, and their disappearance represents not just the loss of a business, but of a way of life.
It’s not just the local economy that suffers when these pubs close. They are more than just places to drink—they are places where community happens, where history is made, and where the spirit of Ireland is kept alive. The idea of protecting these spaces, perhaps even designating them as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, has gained traction in recent years. These calls for their preservation speak to a larger conversation about the value of these spaces, not just as businesses but as cultural spaces.
Maybe this newfound appreciation for the local oldie but goldie will help preserve the Old Man Pub for when Gen Alpha will undoubtedly yearn to discover them all by themselves. It’s a rite of passage that all future generations deserve.
Words: Shamim De Brún
