Hayden’s bar is such a Naas place but Commando ‘outraged’ at €5.70 for a pint

WE took the relatively short trip down the N7 this past week to Naas in Co Kildare, just 40 minutes from our HQ.

With it being so close to home we decided we would go at night time as we hadn’t far to travel, but we were very surprised as we drove the Main Street of Naas at just how many pubs were closed.

“I wonder are they all shut down permanently,” the Young Commando said from the back seat of the pub-mobile. “I’d say we’ve been in all of them over the years.”

Given the time of night, we had no issues securing parking in the town centre and it was Hayden’s pub at the end of the town that caught our eye, so we decided to check it out.

There was plenty of seating available outside at the front of the pub, but it was freezing cold and our Commandos had no intention of availing of such facilities.

We wanted a cosy high stool right beside the taps and that’s exactly what we managed to secure in this surprisingly large boozer.

We were taken aback when we stepped inside the front door at just how large this pub actually is, with multiple different sections throughout.

It was also a lot busier than we were expecting with a mixed clientele of all ages, including a large amount of accents from the northern end of the country.

“Maybe they’re from north Louth and they’re still down here celebrating their great win over Kildare on Sunday,” the Old Commando joked, using any excuse to mock the Lilywhites.

A bearded barman with his hair tied up served us without delay and he engaged us briefly in friendly conversation before returning to his duties.

The pints of Guinness were certainly creamy and tasty, but at €5.70 it really hit home how out of control the cost of alcohol is in Ireland.

“€5.70 for a pint of Guinness outside of Dublin is outrageous,” the Young Commando complained. “When will this madness come to an end, the Government couldn’t care less either,” he moaned.

“The Green Party are thinking of ways you can grow your own beer to help with the cost of living crisis,” the Old Commando jokingly replied, while our designated driver also whinged about paying €3.50 for a mineral.

They have a large selection of drinks available on draught, such as Punk IPA, Island’s Edge, Orchard Thieves and Rockshore as well as the regulars, and the shelves and fridges were all fully stocked.

The barman was kept on his toes throughout our stay and we noticed on numerous occasions that he carried drinks to tables for his customers.

Red neon lights illuminate the counter and the red velvet barstools were all in good condition.

We counted at least five TVs in total and football was being broadcast on most of them, although we’re not sure too many people were overly interested.

A framed Sean O’Brien Leinster rugby jersey from the 2011 Heineken cup final is on display in this pub, as well as the 1995 Naas Town rugby jersey which was sponsored by this pub.

Newspaper clippings at the rear of the pub also emphasis the 1995 Naas rugby team as they won the Provisional Towns cup that year, while there are also plenty of Eadestown GAA photos, including the 1996 Intermediate championship winning team.

“I thought Naas have just won two in a row, wouldn’t you think there’d be a few pictures of their teams up somewhere?” the Young Commando asked.

While we really admired the different sections of this pub, animal lovers will certainly want to avoid visiting one particular area which contains numerous stuffed animals including pheasants and a goat, and there were probably a few squirrels thrown in for good measure too.

Our Old Commando inspected the toilets and he told us in comparison to the rest of the pub they are actually quite small but they were clean and had a powerful, modern hand dryer.

Rating: Four pints out of Five