Timeline

Year	Name of occupier	Name of premises	Source of information
1823	Thomas Mooney	Publican	Newspaper report of attack
1834	Thomas Mooney	Spirit Stores	Watson’s Almanack 1834
c.1850-c.1854	Mr. Lawlor	Victoria Hotel	Newspaper advert
1856-1867	Bernard Larney	Victoria Hotel/Killiney Hotel, transfer of licence to his name	Various sources including Talbot Estate rental records
1867-1882	John Donegan, prop.	Killiney Hotel	Thom’s
1882-1897	Peter McKeever	Licensed concerns and adjoining premises of Mr. John Donegan sold to Peter McKeever for £1,150	Newspaper report of sale and other sources
1897-c.1920	Mary McKeever/Maxwell	Owner of Killiney Hotel along with many other commercial properties in Killiney Village	Various sources
1915	Mrs. Maxwell (widow of Peter McKeever)	Auction notice for McKeever’s ‘Victoria Hotel’ & Killiney Bar (per instructions of Mrs. Maxwell who is retiring from business.)	Newspaper advert
c.1920-c.1924	William Kinneally & Thomas Shine	The ‘Killiney Bar’ and Shine’s Hotel	Newspaper advert
c.1925-36	Stephen McGuinness, prop. & Francis Lacy	McGuinness’s Hotel/Victoria Hotel No.2	Thom’s and Talbot Estate rental records
1937-1944	Rushe brothers	Killiney Hotel/Victoria Hotel No.2	Thom’s and Talbot Estate rental records
1945-1950	W.J. McGrath, prop.	Druid’s Chair Hotel	Thom’s
1950-1981	Patrick Regan & Family	Druid’s Chair Hotel	Thom’s

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Thomas Mooney and the Irish Turks attack of 1823

It has not been possible to locate the exact position of Thomas Mooney’s public house but it would be safe to assume that it was close to where the Druid’s Chair Pub is today. If not the earliest public house in the village it was certainly one of the earliest recorded. The newspaper report below about a violent incident which occurred in 1823 is the earliest mention of a public house in Killiney Village that we have come across to date. The incident itself raises a number of questions as to what exactly happened and who the perpetrators were. No further information has yet come to light but we will continue to investigate this interesting story.

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Mr. Lawlor 1853

An advert for the lease of the premises which appeared in the Freeman’s Journal in March 1853 describes the property ‘lately in the occupation of Mr. Lawlor. These Concerns have a Retail Licence attached, and are well adapted for carrying on the Tavern and Provision Business in this neighbourhood; contains Large Shop, Public Rooms, &c., and every other accommodation necessary for the purpose.’ In 1858 The Post Office Dublin Directory And Calendar lists a B. Larney as owner of the Victoria Tavern and the same B. Larney is recorded as proprietor of the Victoria Hotel in 1865. Bernard Larney is named as the owner in September 1866 in an advert placed by the Landed Estates Court for the sale of the House and Premises known as the Victoria Hotel. The property was held under a lease dated 26th November 1856 for 70 years. A subsequent advert which appeared in The Irish Times in October 1866 states ‘that beautifully fitted up Establishment, known as the Victoria Hotel, Killiney, to which is attached a Grocery concern, both of which are in full working order, but the proprietor is obliged, through ill health, to give up business.’ A John Donegan appears to have taken over from Bernard Larney c.1867 and continues to be mentioned as proprietor of the Killiney Inn/Tavern and Hotel up until 1884.

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Extract from Talbot Estate papers 1856

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Bernard Larney and The Dublin International Exhibition of 1865

Patent Lever Porter Machine 1865

An advert from The Freeman’s Journal of June 1865 drawing the attention of Grocers and Vintners to the latest Patent Lever Porter Machine mentions the Killiney Hotel (we believe this refers to The Druid’s Chair Public House) as one of the establishments where it may be seen at work.

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Inquest into drowning of John Harris, proprietor of the Theatre Royal, in March 1874

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Sale to Peter McKeever in 1882

Death notice of Peter McKeever who died in July 1897 aged 44 (extract)

He was an exacting man of business, but hospitable and generous in disposition. Thoroughly practical in all his transactions in life, he became extremely popular amongst those who had dealings with him. He was the principal means of carrying out what later results have proved to be a most popular undertaking-that of the laying out of the Victoria Park, Killiney, close to which his residence is situated. He owned a vintner’s license and ran an hotel up to the time of his death, and in this connection Mr McKeever occupied an unique position, inasmuch as he was one of the now very few in Ireland, but still not the only one, who was a postmaster and publican carrying on the double business as one concern. Apart from this he carried on an extensive business as a buyer and seller, and his sound and copious knowledge of the Stock Exchange Markets and current quotations of stocks and shares necessarily distinguished him as one to be looked up to for sound advice in all kinds of business transactions.

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To Let notice of July 1917

William Kinneally 1921

The notice of auction below for the ‘Killiney Bar’ and adjoining property (confirmed in another advert as the site and walls of Bayview which had only recently been gutted by fire) states ‘per instructions of Mr. William Kinneally, in consequence of his purchase of Farm in Co. Wicklow, to which he intends devoting his entire attention.’ The sale included Nos. 2 and 3 Talbot Road.

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Shine and Barre

A Thomas Shine is named as proprietor of the hotel in January 1923 when he was summoned for a breach of the licensing laws which was alleged to have taken place on Christmas Eve the previous year. The case was dismissed. In the same newspaper article a case against a Mr. Barre, Killiney, for opening his licensed premises on Christmas day was also dismissed. It is most likely that Barre’s premises was be the pub which now houses The Druid’s Chair public house.

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Patrick Regan and Family 1950-1981