Ah, Rathmines, the suburb that never sleeps. Bathed in the fluorescent lilac and fuchsia glow of the Swan Centre sign, home to squalid students hovels, innumerable new Irish and Miriam O’Callaghan – it’s a cultural melting pot to rival all comers. As one might expect from such a pulsating cosmopolitan hub there is no shortage of venues for one to quell a thirst. From the now defunct, always intimidating Grace’s, suburban Flannery’s substitute Roddy Bolands, QOTSA-loving young professional hangout Blackbird to the bastion of black stuff exalting auld-lad-dom Slattery’s. Even in this most competitive of quarters, there is one watering hole that stands above the rest; the peerless Mother Reilly’s.
For an establishment that on the exterior appears to be a wing of the Uppercross Hotel, Ma Ra’s manages to maintain an unprecedented level of eccentricity. From its uneven, black-lacquered floor to its discoloured ceiling; a comfortingly subterranean cosiness permeates the bar’s décor. It has its own brand of charmingly muddled traditionalism, with images of Houghton sticking the ball in the English net sitting comfortably beside black and white photos of Mike Tyson exiting a helicopter alongside James Bennett, the star of Trim, County Meath’s best, and only, martial arts film, Fatal Deviation (if you haven’t seen this vital cultural text then drop what you’re doing immediately and get googling).
Proximity to Trinity Halls and a long-standing deal offering €4 pints for those baring student cards means there is never any shortage of fresh-faced scholars populating the spacious smoking area, but taking a drink in here is by no means purely a young man’s game. The seats closest to the bar itself are usually populated by grey-ponytailed dad-rockers nattering with the always pleasant staff to the smooth sounds of Curtis Mayfield tracks being piped in, while one table outside is perpetually occupied by the same old souses entertaining/bothering the rest of the clientele with their 10,000th acoustic rendition of American Pie. If the idea of some ruddy-faced homegrown McLeans doesn’t float your boat, then more often than not there’s considerably more appealing live entertainment on offer from table quizzes of some renown to live sets from trad troupes and weed perfumed/monikered, pub rock and reggae acts (shout outs to The 9 Bars and Seven Deadly Skins).
The previously mentioned smoking area is perhaps the pub’s greatest asset and is often more densely populated than the bar itself. Partially covered, dotted with at times unnecessarily powerful heaters and with an abundance of elfin thrones and tables hewn from gargantuan slabs of wood, the otherworldly ambiance of the interior reaches its zenith out back. Boisterous but invariably welcoming, you can tell that an untold number of great stories start with a ‘quiet one’ in here.
Mother Reilly’s
26-30 Upper Rathmines Road, Rathmines, Dublin 6
01-4975486
www.uppercrosshousehotel.com
Words: Danny Wilson
Pictures: Killian Broderick
