Sean's Bar is a
pub in
Athlone
Athlone (; ) is a town on the border of County Roscommon and County Westmeath, Ireland. It is located on the River Shannon near the southern shore of Lough Ree. It is the second most populous town in the Midlands Region with a population of ...
, Ireland, notable for its reputed establishment in AD 900, and claim to being the oldest extant bar in both Ireland and Europe. Other architectural and archaeological records, including the
Record of Monuments and Places and the
National Inventory of Architectural Heritage, date the building to the 17th or 18th century.
Age and history
Archaeological research, reviewed by the
National Museum of Ireland
The National Museum of Ireland ( ga, Ard-Mhúsaem na hÉireann) is Ireland's leading museum institution, with a strong emphasis on national and some international archaeology, Irish history, Irish art, culture, and natural history. It has thre ...
, indicates that a pub may have been operating on the site for at least a millennium, with the building possibly being older. Carbon-dated material such as mud, wood and
wattle
Wattle or wattles may refer to:
Plants
*''Acacia sensu lato'', polyphyletic genus of plants commonly known as wattle, especially in Australia and South Africa
**''Acacia'', large genus of shrubs and trees, native to Australasia
**Black wattle, c ...
, as well as the presence of
tavern tokens
Pub tokens or tavern tokens (as they are known in Great Britain and Ireland) or bar tokens or chits (United States usage) are a form of exonumia used in drinking establishments.
Usage
In Great Britain, Ireland and the US, during the 17th to 20t ...
(of an unspecified age), now on display in the National Museum of Ireland, have further supported "the legend" of the pub's age. During renovations in the 1970s, it was discovered that a back wall was partly made of
wattle
Wattle or wattles may refer to:
Plants
*''Acacia sensu lato'', polyphyletic genus of plants commonly known as wattle, especially in Australia and South Africa
**''Acacia'', large genus of shrubs and trees, native to Australasia
**Black wattle, c ...
and
wicker
Wicker is the oldest furniture making method known to history, dating as far back as 5,000 years ago. It was first documented in ancient Egypt using pliable plant material, but in modern times it is made from any pliable, easily woven material. ...
.
Other archaeological surveys indicate that the oldest parts of the building were constructed in or around the 17th century, with some more ancient materials perhaps having been scavenged and reused from elsewhere. The latter includes research, including by
John Bradley on behalf of the
Office of Public Works and published in the
Record of Monuments and Places and by the
National Inventory of Architectural Heritage, which suggests that the building dates to , while "possibly containing the fabric of earlier buildings".
In 2004,
Guinness World Records issued a certificate to Sean's Bar as the "oldest pub in Ireland". The proprietors have claimed to possess a list of "nearly all previous owners" going back centuries, potentially to the time of Luan, after whom Athlone town is named.
In February 2021 the owners of Sean's Bar, in conjunction with other Irish bar owners, won a landmark court case related to insurance pay-outs during the
COVID-19 pandemic in Ireland COVID-19 pandemic in Ireland may refer to:
* COVID-19 pandemic in the Republic of Ireland, the sovereign state
* COVID-19 pandemic in Northern Ireland, a country of the United Kingdom
{{Health in Ireland ...
.
See also
*
History of Athlone
Athlone () is a town on the River Shannon near the southern shore of Lough Ree in Ireland. Located on the border between County Westmeath and County Roscommon, the development of the Athlone owes much to the location of a strategic ford (river cr ...
*
The Brazen Head
References
Notes
Sources
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External links
Official website
{{Athlone
Buildings and structures completed in the 10th century
Buildings and structures in Athlone
Pubs in the Republic of Ireland