Hi,

My name is Sam, I co-run the Come Here To Me! Dublin history blog.

I've written pieces on the Viking bar on Dame St. and the 1982 gay pride week pub crawl and am now in the process of researching one on Rice's and Bartley Dunne's.

Looking to get in contact with posters John.k, MalteseCross46 and Kevsamo as they've commented about these two places before on Gaire. Not able to PM them though as I don't have 'full membership'.

If they are reading this, could you please email me at matchgrams(at)gmail(dot)com. If you know either poster, could you please let them know about this post.

Also looking to hear from anyone else who frequented either place.

Best wishes,

Sam
http://comeheretome.com/

P.S. - Originally tried to post above as comment on 'What Was The First Gay Bar In Ireland' thread but it seems to be 'locked'.

maltesecross knows a lot of stuff.
He has terminator 7 on dvd

Hi there carax and weclome to Gaire.

I read your Comeheretome blog often - it is a fascinating treasure trove of Dublin history and is a superb blog.

Hopefully some of our more mature memebrs will be able to help you in your query. I know that Bartley Dunnes was where Break For The Border is now. I think Rices was where the St Stephens Green shopping centre stands today. Both well before my time.

I wish you the best in gathering the infor you need. You might also do well to contact the Irish Queer Archives as they have a lot of material on the early years of Dublin's LGBT scene.

Always found Pygmalion to be a bit quiet

Not my memory of the weekend nights but, handy to pop in and then go to Bartley Dunnes or vice versa! great addition to the scene at the time. It was also a brighter and more up-to-date premises for the time.

Howdy Sam. I was fascinated to see Bartley's and Rice's mentioned. I met a couple of nice guys in both, but Bartley Dunnes was by far the superior bar. Did you know that if you could order a drink in Bartley's that they didn't have or couldn't get, you could drink all night for free? That was quite a few years ago though, obviously.

Do you remember the owner at the door denying that it was a gay bar...........very plummy accent. He used to come down the back and have a hissy when he smelled us smoking dope!............it was so seedy it was great!

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome and the replies so far.

Do we know when Rice's and Bartley Dunne's pubs began to become popular with the gay community? I've heard early 1960s but is there a chance it could date to the late 1950s?

It seems from all accounts that Bartley Dunne's was still v. popular with the community in the 1970s and 1980s but did Rice's fall out of fashion? It was demolished in 1986. Was it still a popular gay-friendly pub up until that point?

Hoping to have the article finished for Monday.

Finished piece -

http://comeheretome.com/2013/10/06/rices-bartley-dunnes-dublins-f etc ...

If you've any personal memories of either place - please leave a comment or get in contact.

The Pygmalian was not a gay bar, more post punk goth bar, with a bloke from Stillorgan playing the tunes can't remember his name

I've heard it was gay-friendly though and popular with the community? It was then called William Tell and now is the Hairy Lemon.

Post punk! never heard the like.

Judging from the photos on this facebook page, Bartley Dunnes seemed to be taken over by goth types in the 1980s.
https://www.facebook.com/bartley.dunnesreunion

I left Dublin in 1983 and Ireland in 1984 so, must be after that point.