Crowes

Description

Crowes Pub was established in 1906 by Timothy and Catherine Crowe. Timothy Crowe was a great GAA man and was on the organising committee which first acquired and then set up Croke Park. In 1920, Timothy Crowe with his son Philip (grandfather and father of David Crowe, the current proprietor) were at the infamous match in Croke Park on Bloody Sunday when many innocent spectators were shot dead by the Black & Tans. It was a lucky escape for an ex-employee of Crowes who was playing that day.

Timothy and Catherine Crowe had two sons – Morgan and Philip (Phil). The marriage of Phil to Maura Quinn united two great sporting families. In the field of rugby, the combined tradition and history on both sides of the family has no equal. David Crowe can proudly cite no less than eight family members who played rugby at senior level for Leinster.

The family’s sporting prowess did not stop at rugby and extended to cricket and tennis. David’s uncles, the four Quinn brothers, all played cricket for Ireland while David and his three brothers, Tim and twins Michael and Philip, all played tennis at class one level with the twins narrowly missing out being on a Davis Cup side.

The pub is a treasure trove of sporting memorabilia diligently assembled over the years by David Crowe. The collection includes rugby caps, jerseys and medals, the triple crown-winning rugby ball from 1982.

The famous 'Crowbars' annual dinner held in Wanderers Rugby Club owes its name and origins to Crowes Pub. Established in the sixties, it was to Crowes that the wandering ‘Crowbars’ returned each Sunday for the all-important post-match analysis and performance review.

Despite the untimely death of his grandfather Timothy in 1926, David’s grandmother, Catherine, continued to manage the pub while at the same time looking after her teenage boys and the whole family lived over the pub. A well-known face in the neighbourhood and loyal to the family, Jack Fennell worked as the pub porter for 49 years until his death in 1968. He was responsible for the pub bottling and labelling its own whiskey, stout and beer. In the early fifties, David’s father, Phil, took over from his grandmother. Phil’s wife, Maura, added home-cooked food to provide a true tavern experience. David and his brother Tim began working in the pub alongside their parents in the late sixties and became an integral part of the business. David, who has now worked in the pub for well over forty years, continues the Crowe tradition of friendly hospitality and is the third generation of the Crowe family to run the pub which is one of the oldest family-owned pubs in the country.

Visit Crowes Pub today and enjoy a hearty welcome with a friendly chat and a trip down memory lane!