Tee & Haitches – A Legendary Pub

That may well strike you as a rather odd title, unless you are (a) familiar with Waterford or (b) you read yesterday’s blog entry.  I refer of course to the famous pub on George’s Street in Waterford City, which I’m going to talk a bit about today.

As you may well know, Waterford is Ireland’s oldest city, founded in 914 by the Vikings. Its name retains the Viking influence, they called it Vadre Fjord in old Norse.  T & H Doolan’s (locally referred to only as “Tee & Haitch’s”) is widely reckoned to be  the city’s oldest pub, the first licensed premises having been established on the site in 1710. The only pub still around that I am aware of which even comes close is Henry Downes & Co on Thomas Street, only a 5 or ten minute walk away. But Downes (or “Downses” to the locals) is almost 90 years younger, having been dispensing its wonderful No.9 Whiskey since 1797.

T & H’s is instantly recognisable by its black and white mock Tudor exterior. Growing up I don’t recall it looking any different, but I have seen old photos from the 1940’s  that were clearly taken before the Tudor look was added, probably in the 60’s. It sounds like it should look a bit kitsch, but it doesn’t. Do a Google image search for it and you’ll see. I’ve posted an interior photo here because you can’t go inside anymore so I wanted you to see it.

It has had many owners over the centuries, and at one point was owned by Liam Clancy, of the famous Clancy Brothers folk group. Bob Dylan once described Liam as “the greatest ballad singer of all time”, or words to that effect, so I suspect it was during Liam’s time as  publican of T & H’s that the pub became a hotbed of traditional  and folk music. I remember being in there occasionally as a young boy of 10 or 11 with my older sisters and it seemed there was always a session going on, with anything from two to twenty musicians wielding fiddles, banjos, flutes, pipes, mandolins and guitars, sitting around a table that was groaning under the weight of a thousand pints,  belting out superb tunes. They were all very “70’s folkie” types – a bit scruffy and bohemian with lots and lots of hair and beards, and the men were worse ha ha. In the summer months you could barely get through the door on any night because, as well as the large crowd of locals,  it was packed with American and European tourists, there to soak up the atmosphere of something that was nameless back then, it was just what it was. “Having the Craic”, I suppose, if it really must be called something. These days the marketing gurus of the world tell us it’s the Authentic Traditional Irish Pub Experience. You can get it in almost any city in the world now, allegedly, but in fairness I’ve made a few quid out of it over the years!

In the 1980’s, when I was a teenager, T & H’s was home to the Waterford Folk & Arts Club, who held regular gigs there featuring some legends of the folk world from around Ireland, and indeed, from all over the world, making appearances on the tiny stage. By this time I had really gotten into playing acoustic guitar and was at the age where I was discovering the likes of Bob Dylan and Neil Young, as well as Irish folk legends like  Christy Moore and Paul Brady. In fact, T & H’s was the venue for the very first public performance by a very young Sinead O’Connor. She was only about 15 at the time and was a boarding student at Newtown school. One of her teachers there, an old friend of mine as it happens, recognised her talent and took her under his wing, accompanying her to her first gigs.

I became a regular fixture in the pub, both as musician and punter, throughout 1993, as I mentioned in yesterday’s entry about The Bok. If you walked in there any evening, chances were extremely high you’d find me either on the stage, sitting at a table mid-session, or else on that barstool on the left in the photo. I wasn’t the only one either. There was a community of regular customers, including my brother, and on any given night, you’d find at least a half dozen of us in there. I’m still in touch with some of them thanks to good old Facebook.

T & H’s closed in 2014, and has remained closed since. It was subsequently bought by a pub running family, (who have already revived another old pub nearby to the delight of many). They planned to reopen it, but something went awry. Nobody seems to know exactly what happened. As I understand it, the building is protected, in part because part of one wall in the main lounge (on the right at the back in the photo) is actually a section of the old Viking city walls, about a thousand years old. But as far as I know the bar counter and other features could not be altered either. So some folks say that the new owners did something contrary to the protection orders and were shut down. Other rumours say that a Viking burial site was found underneath the pub. and so everything had to stop until the archaeologists could properly excavate the site. But how do you excavate under a protected building? Whatever the truth is, it is unclear if we will ever know, or if the much loved pub will ever reopen.

On one of our trips back to Ireland, I think it was in 2011 or 2012, we called in for a drink. Our son Sam was around 2 at the time. It was early afternoon and we were the only customers. I did the introductions between the family and my old friend Sandy behind the bar. Ordered up a couple of pints and a glass of Coke or something for Sam. We sat ourselves up at the bar and were settling in nicely when Sam suddenly threw up all over himself, and me, and the floor.  Without batting an eyelid Sandy looks at me and says, “Yep – he’s definitely yours!” I quickly grabbed a pile of paper towels and started cleaning up the mess on the floor while his mum took care of Sam.

Just at that moment the door opened and a bunch of tourists walked in – expecting the aforementioned Authentic Irish Pub Experience no doubt. What they got was me , holding soggy paper towels, standing by a wet patch on the floor with my crotch area soaking wet too. I don’t know where they were from but they didn’t seem perturbed, and they sat down at a table and proceeded to order food and drinks as if this kind of thing is something they see every day.

I think that was the last time I was ever in T & H’s. It saddens me to walk down George’s Street now, and see it all boarded up,  with many of the window panes – which are probably a hundred years old or more – broken. I, and many others, hold out hope to see it revived someday. If it happens, I’ll let you know.

Now I must be off. St. Patrick’s Day is imminent, and Covid-19 or no, I am starting a run of 11 gigs over 8 days tonight. One tonight, one on Friday, three on Saturday, two on Sunday, one on Monday, two on Tuesday, and one on Wednesday. If only one or two of them could be in T & H’s……..

GM