The Brazen Head in Bridge Street, if not the oldest establishment of it's kind in Europe,
is certainly the oldest in the country. It was built on the site of a tavern dating back
to the 12th century.
The first question asked by the stranger, on looking around the house is,
"How old is this place?" and once was heard the reply, " Sure, they were serving drinks
in here before a license was needed to do so".This was no idle boast, the first licensing
law was not passed until 1635, but there is every possibility that the Brazen Head
was in excistence some time prior to this.
Another question often asked is "How did this place get it's name?".One interesting but
unreliable version goes that it was an imitation of a tavern in Limerick Called
"At the sign of the Brazen Head", named after a red-headed girl who, while trying to
get a better view of the siege of Limerick, lost her head to a Williamite army's
cannon.But in fact the name Brazen Head was Common enough in the 1660's.
History and the Brazen Head today.
The greatest memories of the Brazen Head are those of 1798 and the years immediatly
before it.Here the chiefs of the United Irishmen use to meet and relax.
It was to the Brazen Head that Oliver Bond brought his new-found friend, Thomas Reynolds,
to meet the men who were planning for freedom.Little did he know that Reynolds was an
informer who gave the government the information that led to the arrest of almost
the whole Leinster Directory, in Oliver Bond's own house at 13 Bridge Street.And
so it was that the Rising lost almost all its chief at one blow.
The brazen Head was frequented at times by Robert Emmett, Wolfe Tone, Daniel O'Connell
and many other notable men.When Robert Emmet stayed ther he occupied the room overlooking
the passageway leading to the door of the Inn from which all the callers to the house
could be observed.Emmett's writing desk, a treasured relic of the past, is here to this
day.The place is redolent, of centuries of history, of secret meetings of rebels and
smugglers and is absolutely the genuine article.
Nowadays..
The Brazen Head boasts a first class Restaurant with full Bar License serving lunch and evening Dinner.
A superb Carvery Lunch and evening dinner is served daily in the Bar.
Music is played in the Music Lounge nightly wher you can join in the fun.
