SEAN'S BAR Notable

Established

Awarded a Guinness World Records certificate in 2004 as the oldest pub in Ireland. The pub's own claim — well-documented locally though disputed by some architectural historians — traces the inn back to 900 AD, when Luain Mac Luighdeach is said to have opened a hostelry near Áth Mor (the Great Ford).

Architecture

A section of original wattle-and-wicker wall, dated to the ninth century, is preserved on display behind glass. Coins from the same renovation now sit in the National Museum of Ireland.

Street role

Sits on the west bank of the Shannon at the river's narrowest point — the original ford that gave Athlone its name.

Rituals

The floor slopes down toward the river. Tradition holds it was deliberately so — the Shannon could flood through and out without taking the building with it.

Music

Listed on thesession.org as a regular trad-session venue (2009-08-17 16:58:42).

Reputation

Among the strongest claims to continuous tavern trade on a single site anywhere in Europe. The 900 AD date is contested by some architectural and archaeological scholars, who place the present building's fabric in the 17th or 18th century — but no one disputes that this corner of Athlone has been a public-house site for many hundreds of years.