A stop on the haunted pub crawl through Dublin, one of the stops would be John Mulligan’s. Stories about glass and bottles flying from the shelves has haunted the place for decades now according to the people behind the bar.
In the midst of Dublin’s literary quarter you will find John Mulligans, or simply just Mulligan’s, a pub steeped in more than stout. The Mulligan’s on 8 Poolbeg Street has long been a water hole for journalists, poets, and dreamers seeking comfort in its Victorian embrace with no rush to move on with the times.
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The old wooden bar, polished smooth by generations of hands, seems to hum with memory. Mulligans is no stranger to fame since it opened its door in 1854 on this street. Mulligan’s had already been in business on Thomas Street since 1782. Because of its proximity to the Theatre Royal, it has drawn in artists, actors and writers alike. And according to the rumors, there are some ghosts among the patrons as well.
The Haunted Mulligan’s Pub
Immortalized by James Joyce in his short story Counterparts, the pub has become a literary landmark, its walls echoing with the voices of Dublin’s creative elite. But fame brings its shadows, and as the night deepens, it is said that the pub’s more spectral patrons emerge.
Staff behind the bar tell of bottles flying from shelves, doors slamming without warning, and a low, rhythmic banging that rises from the cellar long after closing. A lot of the stories come from what the staff told Declan Dunne, a writer who wrote a book about the history of the bar. As he said himself to the Journal:
“One of the co-owners, Gary Cusack, said a barman saw a bottle of brandy flying off the shelf. It went quite a distance onto the sink and didn’t break. Gary also stayed above Mulligans for a period and without questions he used to hear footsteps and when he went to investigate, there was no one there.”
In the cellar, there are also rumours of a ghost seen sitting on one of the barrels as well according to employee Christy Hynes:
“He wasn’t even looking at me. He was looking straight ahead as if he was minding his own business. I just felt cold.”
As Declan Dunne wrote in his book:
“His brother, Brian, began working in the pub in the 1990s as he was studying for a law degree. He and Gary were working in the front lounge bar when Gary felt and heard a knock from beneath the cellar hatch on which they were both standing. They knew there was no one in the cellar. Gary turned to Brian to ask him if he had noticed anything. Brian had heard and felt the same rap from the hatch. They both waited a while, afraid to check the source of the noise as they laughed nervously. Eventually, Gary opened the hatch and checked the cellar. There was no one there.”
Some have even seen a ghostly figure of a man sitting atop a beer barrel in the basement, silent and watchful, as if guarding something long forgotten.
Those who linger after hours speak of a sudden chill that creeps through the air, the faint scent of tobacco, and a feeling that someone unseen is standing just behind them. Perhaps it is a former patron who could never quite leave the warmth of the pub, or maybe a remnant of the countless stories and sorrows soaked into its floors.
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Phantom footsteps and flying bottles: Ghost stories from Dublin’s John Mulligan’s pub