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Location: 25 S Main St, Centre, Cork, T12 Y15D
Venue Type: Traditional Irish Pub / Historic Venue
Year of Inscription: 2025
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| EBG Rating: | 8.8/10 |
| Choice/ Quality of Drinks | ❤️❤️❤️❤️ Rising Sons beers are a genuine compliment to the typical Irish classics. Reasonable whisky selection. |
| Style/ Décor | ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ A clearly elderly exterior, mossy whitewash, red & gold signage above the door, but a stylish Deco influenced hoarding at the back of the building. Inside, an original 1916 refit has been kept intact. Oval shaped bar with snug to the left, stools and chairs around the perimeter, and warren of niches into a firelit room at the back. Unique, highly distinctive and stylish. |
| Atmosphere/ Character | ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ An incredibly characterful pub. The style of the interior is completely in keeping with the decorations, while candlelight sets a mood even during the afternoons. Busy weekend trade makes this feel like a significant place, but one where when you set foot through the door you leave the outside world behind. |
| Amenities/ Events | ❤️❤️❤️ Fireplace, snacks, limited outdoor seating |
| Value For Money | ❤️❤️ City centre prices, and on the slightly higher end. |
| Description | A 200+ year old building, reconstructed in 1918 by Beamish & Crawford, The Oval is Cork’s most flamboyant pub. An oval ceiling as you look up from the entrance seems to inform the bar, seating and rooms that peel off around it. Both elegant and distinctive, with a sense of age to it. On entry, candlelight even during the day gives it a moody feel. Particularly at the back towards the fire you could easily allow hours to pass as you get comfortable in one of the niches. The place is very lively on Fridays and weekends though, events posters and an alternative music soundtrack pointing to this not just being a fusty old museum piece but a relevant venue, something underpinned by its range of Rising Sons Brewery beers. Part of the suspiciously incomplete Cork Heritage Pubs trail, all of which are owned by the same operation, but that aside, they do a good job. This is a business that allows each venue to speak for itself, much to their credit. The Oval an absolute must-see, but pick your moment carefully on weekends and evenings to be assured of a seat. (Added February 2025) |
