DICK MACK'S

Established

Opened in 1899 by Tom MacDonnell, stationmaster at the Tralee & Dingle Light Railway. From day one a pub-and-grocery — Tom added a leather workshop because he reckoned travellers into Dingle might need their boots seen to.

Family

After Tom's death in 1938 the pub passed to his son Richard — 'Dick Mack' — who established the boot store. The 'k' in 'Mack's' was added for aesthetics when the name went up over the door.

Architecture

A dual-function bar that still serves as it began: beer and a fine selection of whiskeys on one half of the room, leather workshop on the other. The leather counter remains in active use.

Regulars

Robert Mitchum drank here while filming *Ryan's Daughter* on the peninsula in 1968. Dick Mack later created a Hollywood-style 'Walk of Fame' on the pavement outside — star slabs naming the pub's celebrity visitors. Among them: Julia Roberts, Sean Connery, Robert Mitchum, Dolly Parton, and the Antarctic explorer Tom Crean (a Kerry man).

Reputation

An emblem of west-Kerry pub eccentricity — listed by *Ireland.com* among the country's most distinctive bars and routinely topping whiskey-bar rankings.