The Swan Bar

The Swan was established in 1723. The present bar dates from 1897 and is only one of twelve remaining intact original victorian bars in Dublin. This revered icon of Irish Licensed heritage has dispensed sustenance, shelter and social culture to the citizenry of Dublin for the last six centuries. Totally unique amongst Dublin pubs, The Swan is an authentic Victorian pub that is descended from a Medieval Inn. There has been a continuous licence on or close to this site since 1661 when Sir Francis Aungier developed what was then Dublin’s widest street. The unspoilt Victorian showcase that you see before you today was undertaken by Thomas F. O’Reilly in 1897, and by this stage the name of the premises was familiarly shortened to ‘The Swan’. Georges Street was then the most important thoroughfare in Dublin’s narrative and The Swan did a thriving wine, beer and spirits trade in addition to essential grocery items like tea, sugar, coffee, cocoa, snuff and semolina.