McDowell’s of Inchicore is on the ball for Saints fans with very reasonable €5.30 pints

THE pub-mobile was left at HQ this past week as Pub Spy and the crew decided to stay local.

The Young Commando summoned a taxi to pick us up and we set off for McDowell’s pub in Inchicore.

One of our commandos is a staunch St Patrick’s Athletic fan and he has been badgering us to check out the ‘home’ of St Pat’s fans.

“The locals here adore Pat’s. There’s always a good atmosphere around the place,” the commando said as the taxi driver pulled up outside.

“Really?” the Young Commando replied. “Even after losing three in a row, there’d still be a good aul atmosphere?” he asked, throwing in some cheeky one-liners to wind up his colleague.

While it hasn’t been the best of starts to the new season for the team, that’s no reason to stay at home and avoid the pub.

Luckily enough, the locals thought so too as McDowell’s was enjoying a good brisk trade when Pub Spy and the team arrived.

We managed to get some seats at the counter just inside the front door and the barmaid, Lisa, came over to serve us straight away.

The Old Commando was thrilled to see there was plenty of Guinness glasses perched on the counter, so he knew there was a steady flow of stout coursing through the pipes.

Costing €5.30, the creamy pints of plain were actually cheaper than we had recently paid in a few counties around the country, including Kildare last week at €5.70.

“I never thought I’d see the day that pubs in Dublin would be cheaper than down the country.

This country is gone to hell altogether,” the Young Commando moaned.

There was a mixed clientele, mostly middle-aged to elderly in the bar, and we counted three TVs in total, with Cheltenham the main item of focus.

The Old Commando was trading tips with an elderly barfly with a country accent as they trawled through the newspapers, but most of their betting slips ended up in the bin.

A St Pat’s scarf hangs proudly on display behind the counter and the pub’s front façade has a mural stating ‘Once a saint, always a saint’.

The timber flooring was old but clean and the green leather barstools were in good condition.

The first thing you see when you walk in the front door is a collage of photographs of the Dublin senior footballers from 2019 that completed the ‘five in a row’ following a replay victory over Kerry.

“What a day that was. Jaysus, we were spoiled rotten for a decade,” the Old Commando reminisced. “I doubt we’ll ever see dominance like that again — well, I won’t at my age anyway.” There was a very lively atmosphere during our stay and McDowell’s is a basic boozer with no frills or thrills, but it was warm and clean, the barmaid had a good relationship with the locals and, most importantly, we couldn’t fault the porter.

The Young Commando inspected the toilets before we departed and he reported back to us that they were spacious with a fresh odour but that a deep cleaning would be no harm.

We finished off our last round of drinks and bid farewell to the locals.

The Old Commando couldn’t help himself when he wished the locals good luck on St Patrick’s Day in the relegation derby with Shamrock Rovers as we scurried to the door, hoping to get him out alive — although perhaps we should have left him behind.

Rating: Three pints out of Five

One for the Road…

The Black Lion – Inchicore, Dublin

THIS beautiful boozer took our breath away as soon as we arrived.

We could have spent hours here and each section warrants its own review.

We sat at the counter in the raised front bar where there was a mixed clientele of all ages with everything from young couples, young families and your everyday barflies.

There were at least three barmen on duty and we were served without delay.

There are at least three TVs in this section and a variety of drinks available on draught, including Island’s Edge, Beamish, Foster’s and Birra Moretti. An upstairs section contained a large projection screen and they were also serving food during our stay.

The toilets were very clean and spacious with multiple cubicles and six urinals.

The Black Lion was established over 289 years ago and it appears to still be operating at the highest level.

Rating: Four pints out of Five