Thursday, August 31, 2006 - Guinness and memories

I recently got to revisit  one of my favorite places in the world in The Crown Bar in the center of Belfast City. It does a great pint of Guinness and attracts many tourists from all over the world in addition to locals after work and at the weekends. It's not the kind of place that would attract many 20 odd year olds looking for fast paced nightlife but has that kind of warm familiarity that can only be found in a British pub.

My last visit only added to already fond memories of  numerous previous visits with freinds and family, however this time the visit was more poignant and a little sad.

I was with my father who has recently been taken ill and prompted my visit to my parents city of Belfast. As I stood there drinking a pint of Guinness I thought how strange it seemed that Dad ( who like most Irishmen always likes a few drinks) could only manage a couple of halves due to his illness. He also revealed that it had been the last pub he drank in the night before he left to live in England in the early 1960's, where myself and my 3 sisters were consequently born and raised, he also told me how he was violently ill on 'the boat over' after too many beers and rough seas the next day.

Since I moved to the States in 1987 all my immediate family have since returned to Belfast in the mid 1990's.

I have took the liberty of purloining some comments and pictures on the history of the Crown, well worth a visit if you ever find yourself in Northern Ireland.

The Crown Bar is unbelievably rich in colour and design that each time you go in you’ll find something new to catch your eye that you had missed before.

Where else would you find a lovely burnished primrose yellow,red and gold ceiling, a floor laid in a myriad of mosaic tiles,brocaded walls ubiquitous highly patterned tiles, vigorous wood carvings throughout, ornate mirrors, wooden columns with Corinthian capitals and feathered motifs in gold?

Painted and etched glass is everywhere you look, vivid in amber and carmine painted shells, fairies, pineapples, fleurs-de-lis and clowns incidentally,the colourful decorative windows fronting the bar were originally intended to shield customers from inquisitive passers-by.

The long Balmoral red granite-topped ‘Alter’ bar is divided by columns and faced with gaily coloured tiles and a heated foot rest. Look out for the huge casks with their polished brass taps. Save for the inscriptions in English on the Mahogany cabinet behind the bar

-: High Class Whiskey - Direct Importers - Special Wines :-

It might be something out of the Arabian Nights or a Bohemian setting akin to Ballf’s Marble Halls.

Yet the glittering exuberant feeling, in all it’s detail still remains within the bounds of good taste in a scene that has remained un-changed for over a Century.

The 'Snug' Habit
Another great delight in this magical place is the ten different shaped, cosy and elaborately carved wooden Boothes, lettered from A-J. In the snugs you will find gun metal plates for striking matches, and an antique bell system (this used to be very common in Victorian Houses where servants were employed), which alerts bar staff to your liquid needs. Drinking snugs according to old records were not originally built for comfort, but to accommodate those people who preferred to drink quietly and unseen.

‘To slip in for a quick one’ obviously referred to those reserved or shy individuals who may have held opinions on public houses, but at the same time, still like to drink, provided no-one saw him or her taking it. Those people are few and far between now: nevertheless the ‘snug’ habit very much remains with us and even in the most modern bar you will still find a version of this quaint drinking department, but it is still a snug or box- to use the colloquial name. It is no wonder that much revolutionary conspiracy and many clandestine meetings took place in these little snugs.

The Crown is both ageless and priceless, a gem of Victoriana and without doubt one of the greatest bars in the World.
The Crown Liquor Saloon in Great Victoria Street, Belfast was perhaps the greatest of Victorian Gin Palaces which once flourished in the industrial cities of Britain.Today wonderfully preserved, the Crown is cherished and still well used by the people of Belfast. It is owned by the National Trust and managed by Six Continents Retail Limited. The National Trust made the decision to purchase this exotic property in 1978 ( Sir John Betjeman, the late Poet Laureate, played a crucial role in the Trust’s decision.) In 1981 the Trust carried out a sympathetic restoration, and it took the sum of approximately £400,000 to restore the bar to its full Victorian splendour.

It is now a unique visual gem, a veritable masterpiece in bar architecture, which has the distinction of being known to millions all over the world. The Crown is famous as a tourist venue in the heart of Belfast, and the pub dates back to 1826, when the first train ran from Belfast to Lisburn.

It was then known as the Railway Tavern and was owned by Felix O’Hanlon; he sold it to Michael Flanagan, but it was Michael’s son, Patrick, who was destined to make it famous. A student of architecture, he travelled widely, and was impressed by what he saw. He arrived home with ideas to brighten up the old family bar.

Distinctive Italian Craftsmanship
The year 1885 was an era of emancipation in Ireland, which saw a sharp increase in the building of Catholic churches.

Skilled craftsmen from Italy were brought into the North of Ireland and Patrick persuaded some of these tradesmen to supplement their income by moonlighting on the building of his saloon.

These Italian craftsmen were responsible for the tiling, glasswork and rich ornamental woodwork which turned Patrick’s dream into reality, and gave the Crown it’s distinctive character.

No wonder, at times when the sun beams strongly through the stained-glass windows, you would think you were in a church.

This impression is also enhanced by the wonderful combination of snugs, which look at times like confessional boxes, and the stained-glass, of course, suggests a baroque church interior, rather than a bar. The exterior façade of the bar is a riot of polychromatic tiles, which clearly hint at the box of delights to be found within.