A few nice cool pints at €5.20 were all White on the night in this Baldoyle boozer

OUR Commandos were delighted to be back on the road for 2023 and a recent trip to Baldoyle was the first outing in Dublin for more than four months, and our first trip to the coastal town since October 2016.

“Why do we never come here in the summer time?” the Young Commando moaned as we arrived outside The White House pub.

“It’s always bloody well freezing when we come to Baldoyle,” he claimed.

Luckily enough, it was nice and warm inside the pub as we placed our order with the busy barman on duty who we think was named Jason.

He was working alone and was rushed off his feet for the duration of our stay, but the Old Commando was thrilled to see him pull pint after pint after pint of Guinness as we waited for our drinks.

“Well that’s a good sign anyway, look around. Nearly everyone is drinking stout — even the women!” the Old Commando said.

There was a mixed clientele of mostly middle aged to elderly customers and a brilliant atmosphere throughout our stay.

While most people kept to themselves we still enjoyed the buzz of a busy boozer just after the Christmas rush.

The creamy pints of Guinness cost €5.20 and the Old Commando checked his notes back at HQ after our visit and informed us this was an increase of 65c from our previous visit in 2016.

We sat in the corner of the pub among some of its iconic sporting memorabilia and it brought back floods of memories, especially for the Old Commando.

A framed pin stripe Dublin jersey from the 1988 National League vs Meath is on display as well as a photograph of the iconic Stephen Cluxton free in 2011 against Kerry.

The Hill’s messiah, Kevin Heffernan, is also featured as is the great Barney Rock after scoring a goal against Cork in 1983.

There are multiple horse racing related photographs as well as pictures from Ireland’s famous friendly victory over New Zealand in 2016.

The stone walls are a lovely feature and the tiled floor is spotlessly clean. The wine leather bench seating was in good condition and there is plenty of seating throughout the pub.

We counted four TVs in total with football and horse racing being broadcast during our stay.

There’s a dart board in a small snug style section just off the main bar, although nobody was playing during our stay.

Beamish, Peroni, Hop House 13, Orchard Thieves, Birra Moretti and a new one for our Commandos, Hop On, were just some of the drinks available on draught.

There is also a restaurant section to this pub that serves grub from Wednesday to Sunday. Unfortunately we had eaten before leaving HQ, but we’ll know better next time.

Our Young Commando was the first of the troops to use the toilet facilities and he reported back to us that everything was above board and they were well maintained.

The Old Commando had left our party at this stage as he got involved with two of the regular barflies named Shay and Peadar, and he really enjoyed the natter, especially about the Dubs.

With the O’Byrne Cup starting this week the Old Commando said it’ll be great to see some silverware coming to Dublin over the coming weeks.

“With Jack McCaffrey back on board we’re bound to win the lot,” one of the regulars said to the Old Commando, to which he agreed, of course!

We enjoyed our few pints in Baldoyle we’ll call again some day.

Rating: Four pints out of Five

One for the road…

Wright’s Findlater – Howth

AS we arrived at the front door of the Findlater pub, a member of staff was instructing a customer to come back and pay for their meal.

“We better be on our best behaviour here,” the Old Commando said.

It was exceptionally busy when we called and there were very few seats left available.

We sat at the counter and ordered our rounds of drinks but we didn’t engage with anyone as most people at the counter were either dining or waiting on a table.

There was a mixed clientele of all ages and a very good atmosphere. The black leather barstools were in good condition and the fridges and shelves were all well stocked.

The toilets are located downstairs and contained two cubicles, seven urinals and four sinks.

Rating: Three pints out of Five