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Location:  99 S Main St, Centre, Cork, T12 XD6D

Venue Type:  Traditional Irish Pub / Boozer

Year of Inscription: 2025

Map

Description

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EBG Rating:	8.7/10
Choice/ Quality of Drinks	❤️❤️❤️ Tried and trusted standards, not bothered by much fancy on tap or in bottle.
Style/ Décor	❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ A superb old-school layout of a kind that isn’t made any more, and probably wasn’t 50 years ago either. Simple drop in boozer with typical wood panelled walls painted cream and crimson, a snug to the left of the entrance and a corridor with a simple bench to perch with your pint. The long room extends to a wider area and a rear lounge with open fireplace, which really feels like an overflow in comparison to the buzz at the bar.
Atmosphere/ Character	❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ Truly feels like dialling into the Cork social scene, with all the gossip and goings on. Informal, but with a healthy respect for the family that runs the place.
Amenities/ Events	❤️❤️❤️❤️ Snacks, snuff, occasional live events, TV, fireplace
Value For Money	❤️❤️❤️ Reasonable for the city centre.
Description	Three generations of the same family have run The Castle since the 1930s, the pub itself operating since the 1870s. It won’t surprise you to learn then that this is a kind of old-school establishment. It’s important to not let all discussions of traditional pubs fall into the same bracket though, for this is not a traditional pub in the way Sin é is, or the way the Abbey is, or in the way the Hi-B is. Each of them have their own take on the notion. Different spaces and formats. The Castle Inn is super basic and simple, a drop in bar area to perch at the bar or on a bench, sip your pint and shoot the breeze. They like to think of it as a country pub in the city. You can kind of see why. The owner’s parents (and…employees?) Denis and Mary live above the bar, and are often seen working behind it. With open fires, a snug, sport on TV (thankfully a small one) this is one pub perhaps above all else where you can really feel dialled in to the events of the city. They also appear to still sell snuff. That’s the flavour of this place. By its very nature it isn’t going to be everyone’s sort of thing, but for those of us who it is, it’s an unmissable pub in Cork. (Added February 2025)