McNeill's: "We're just guardians of this pub... You have to make sure you preserve it the best you can, and hand it over to whoever else is coming behind you"

Charm, character and a bit of good-natured slagging have never been in short supply on Dublin’s Capel Street – especially once you step inside the doors of the beloved traditional pub McNeill’s. A unique, intimate space warmed by open fires during the colder months – and soundtracked seven nights a week by some of the best unplugged sessions in the country – the pub stands out as a vibrant gem on the iconic northside street.

“You could actually write a book on every day of the week on this street – and it would be a bestseller,” says Stuart from McNeill’s. “People would think it’s fiction! It’s a funny street, but it’s a good street, and it has a great vibe, with the mix of all the different restaurants and bars.”

Of course, as the lettering on the building’s beautiful green facade reveals, McNeill’s wasn’t always a pub. Although the ‘Music Shop’ sign continues to confuse the odd punter looking for a new tin whistle (“If I had a pound for every time it happens, I wouldn’t have to pour a pint,” Stuart claims), it serves as a reminder of the remarkable history of the building, and the original J. McNeill, who set up shop on Capel Street all the way back in 1834.

It was here in this building that the instrument manufacturer made the bugle which, in 1854, sounded the famous Charge of the Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaclava – a major engagement of the Crimean War. After being bought at an auction over 100 years later by television host Ed Sullivan and actor Laurence Harvey, the instrument is now part of the collection of a Nottinghamshire military museum.

That deep history runs through the place – with Stuart recently getting his hands on a fiddle made at McNeill’s in the 1850s, which he plans to put on display at the bar.

But it wasn’t until December 2008 that the pub we know today opened its doors.

“It opened in the middle of the biggest recession to hit the world since the Great Depression,” says Stuart. “And we’re still here. They can’t get rid of us...

“A lot of people seek out McNeill’s, for one reason or another – whether it’s just for me to take the piss out of them, I don’t know!” he continues. “Only last Saturday, there was a crowd over from Canada, who were told by their friend from Chicago to come to Dublin, and go to McNeill’s.”

While the “bang-on” clientele, expertly-poured pints, roaring open fires and renowned traditional music sessions are all undoubtedly part of the appeal, what makes McNeill’s truly special is the central ethos of the place – with Stuart considering himself and his team “guardians of the pub.”

“People buy these pubs, and they flute around – pulling this wall down, or that wall down,” he remarks. “And all of a sudden, you’ve lost the charm of a little pub. That’s the danger. So we have to make sure it maintains this stability all the way through, and the same standards are met. Otherwise the customers walk in, and they know it’s not the same bar.”

It’s the same, he says, when it comes to the music.

“People want music, and they want good music. They don’t want ‘Galway Girl’ and that crap they sing around the place, because that’s just embarrassing.

“So that’s all you are: a guardian,” he concludes. “You have to make sure you preserve it the best you can, and hand it over to whoever else is coming behind you. We could be dead and gone – and hopefully it would still be here, in the same shape and format.”

McNeill’s
140 Capel St, Dublin 1
Tel: (01) 872 8713
Instagram: @mcneills_irishpub

Discover more pubs, restaurants and night-outs in the capital in Best of Dublin – in shops now, and available to order online below: