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John Mulligans and the Pub Ghost on Poolbeg Street

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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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References:

Top 11 Haunted Dublin Pubs Full Of Spirits! | Spooky Isles

Phantom footsteps and flying bottles: Ghost stories from Dublin’s John Mulligan’s pub

Mulligan’s – Wikipedia

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Davy Byrne’s Pub: The Ghost of James Joyce Still Raising a Glass

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Said to appear in the mirror of his favorite place for a pint in Dublin, the ghost of James Joyce is rumored to still linger in Davy Byrne’s Pub. 

In the heart of Dublin’s literary quarter stands one of the city’s most famous pubs, Davy Byrne’s, where polished wood, gleaming mirrors and a literary history draws people from near and far. Some even say that some stay after their death. 

Read More: Check out all ghost stories from Ireland

For more than 125 years, this elegant public house has been a gathering place for writers, rebels, and thinkers. Yet behind its warm glow and literary fame lingers a story of something spectral. They say that James Joyce himself, the master of Dublin’s soul, never truly left the place that helped make him immortal.

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A Pub of Poets and Patriots

First opened in 1889, Davy Byrne’s Pub quickly became a cornerstone of Dublin’s social life. The upstairs rooms were once used for clandestine Republican meetings, with none other than Michael Collins himself said to have gathered here in secret during Ireland’s struggle for independence. The pub became a crossroads of revolution and intellect, where whispers of rebellion mixed with the smoke of pipes and the clink of glasses.

But while politics left its mark on these walls, literature would make the pub eternal. James Joyce, who frequented the establishment in the early 1900s, captured its spirit in his masterpiece Ulysses, where Leopold Bloom famously orders a gorgonzola sandwich and a glass of burgundy at Davy Byrne’s. That passage ensured that the pub’s name would live forever, etched into the pages of one of the greatest novels ever written. Joyce also mentioned the pub in the short story “Counterparts” in Dubliners as a bar visited by the office clerk protagonist named Farrington following an altercation with his senior at the office.

The Writer Who Never Left

Book fans travel long distances to visit the place and The pub is particularly popular on Bloomsday, an annual 16 June celebration of both the book and James Joyce.

Regulars and staff will tell you that Joyce still lingers here. His image, they say, appears in the bar’s ornate mirrors, watching quietly from the corner as if observing his characters come to life once more. Some claim that his reflection moves independently, tilting its head or raising a glass, even when no one is standing nearby.

The Ghost of a Writer: James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce[a]; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist movement and is regarded among the most influential and important writers of the 20th century.

A few have even reported hearing the faint scratch of a pen on paper, or the ghostly murmur of a man reciting words from memory. Whether it is the echo of Joyce’s creative spirit or a trick of the mind, no one can say for certain.

Between Literature and the Beyond

For some, it makes perfect sense that Joyce would haunt Davy Byrne’s. The pub was his muse, a place that embodied Dublin’s wit, melancholy, and vitality. Perhaps his spirit simply returns to where the city felt most alive to him. Or perhaps he lingers to see if his words are still spoken, if readers and wanderers still come to trace the path of Ulysses.

Today, Davy Byrne’s remains one of the most beloved pubs in Dublin, where tourists and locals alike gather to taste a pint and a slice of literary history. Yet those who know its story may pause before the mirrors, half-expecting to glimpse a familiar figure in a dark coat and round spectacles smiling faintly back.

If you do, raise your glass. It might just be that James Joyce has come back for one last drink in the pub he never could forge

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References:

Davy Byrne’s pub – Wikipedia

History – Davy Byrnes

The 10 most haunted pubs in Dublin | The Irish Post