Hey Devitt’s, whatcha do? Get a haircut or something?
Look closer Lenny!
A few months ago, Devitt’s on Camden Street changed hands. The Devitt family sold the pub to the Mangan Group, whose flagship pub is Doheny & Nesbitts on Baggot Street. For a while nothing happened, but then renovations quickly took place: the “The Cusack Stand” sign on its Pleasant Street frontage that marked out its GAA credentials came down, benches and barrels were set up outside for sitting and leaning respectively, everything was polished within an inch of its life, and men with sculpted beards appeared to be shamelessly enjoying themselves outside pub in the sunshine when passing by. Had the worst happened? Had Devitt’s gone and got that most Irish of afflictions, notions?
Thankfully, this stalwart of conservatism on Camden Street has not fallen prey to a drastic remake, it has not been reconceived as an olde fashioned apothecary or ironic glue factory in tribute to the ghosts of commerce past. Instead, this new ownership has effectively doubled-down on its Devittsness. It’s probably instructive to look at the other pubs in the Mangan stable – The Glenside in Churchtown, The Stoneboat in Kimmage, and Smyth’s and Birchall’s in Ranelagh – to realise that they were unlikely to throw the baby out with the bathwater here.
The bar remains structurally and aesthetically very similar, with the back area now finished in large ochre-coloured leather booths, while the outside features hanging flowers similar to O’Neill’s on Pearse Street, and the garish green is replaced with a deep Farrow and Ball blue. The barmen remain sturdy and suited, and the biggest nod to contemporary pub trappings is the array of up-lit liquor bottles adorning the walls both behind the bar and back room. The Guinness notably lands right on the fiver mark – becoming more and more of a rarity in the city centre – while the array of craft options will tide over the casual fan if not the specialist. All in all, this revamp seems an outright success, maintaining the bar’s old-school charms without giving in to the fly-by-night fashions.
Words – Ian Lamont
Photo – Killian Broderick
Devitt’s
78 Lower Camden Street, Dublin 2
t: 01-4753414
