Sean's Bar

Image:sean's bar music.jpg

Archaeological surveys indicate that the oldest parts of the building were constructed in or around the 17th century,{{sfn|Bradley et al.|1985}} with some more ancient materials perhaps having been scavenged and reused from elsewhere.{{sfn|An Bord Pleanala|2017|p=34|ps=: "WM029-042086- [..] On the premises of Sean's Bar (WM029-042086-), 13 Main Street, is a late medieval stone built fireplace from a house on an island in Lough Ree"}} The latter includes research, including by John Bradley on behalf of the Office of Public Works and published in the Record of Monuments and Places and by the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage, which suggests that the building dates to {{circa|1725}}, while "possibly containing the fabric of earlier buildings".{{sfn|National Inventory of Architectural Heritage}}{{sfn|An Bord Pleanala|2017|p=33|ps=: "WM029-042087- [..] 'Sean's Bar' was originally a two storey high building with thick walls, an additional third storey in brick was added later. Preserved on the premises is a section of wattle partition removed from a first floor wall. This could be of seventeenth century date but it is not securely dated"}} A 1738 rental survey refers to the building as the "Three Blackamoor Heads".{{sfn|National Inventory of Architectural Heritage}}

During renovations in the 1970s, it was discovered that a back wall was partly made of wattle and wicker.{{sfn|Daugherty|2011}} A number of tavern tokens, of an unspecified age and now on display in the National Museum of Ireland, were also found.{{sfn|MacEacheran|2019}}

In 2004, Guinness World Records issued a certificate to Sean's Bar as the "oldest pub in Ireland".{{sfn|MacEacheran|2019}}{{sfn|O'Connor|2018}}{{sfn|Fodor's|2019}} The proprietors have claimed to possess a list of "nearly all previous owners" going back centuries,{{sfn|Flynn|2018}}{{sfn|Daugherty|2011}} potentially to the time of Luan, after whom Athlone town is named.{{sfn|MacEacheran|2019}}{{sfn|Gwynn|1914|p=250}}

In February 2021 the owners of Sean's Bar, in conjunction with other Irish pub owners, won a landmark court case related to insurance pay-outs during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ireland.{{sfn|O'Faolain|2021}}

File:Wattle Wall in Sean's Bar.jpg

• History of Athlone
• The Brazen Head

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• {{cite book| last1 = Bradley | first1 = John | author-link1 = John Bradley (historian) | last2 = Halpin | first2 = Andrew | last3 = King | first3 = Heather A. | date = 1985 | title = Urban Archaeological Survey for County Westmeath | publisher = Office of Public Works | place = Dublin | ref = {{harvid|Bradley et al.|1985}} }}
• {{cite book | page=493 | first=Christi | last=Daugherty | title=Frommer's Ireland | edition=22 | publisher=Frommers | date=27 December 2011 | ISBN=978-1118027653}}
• {{cite web |last1=Flynn |first1=Sean Patrick |title=Pull up a Chair and Have a Drink at the Oldest Bar in Ireland |url=https://www.departures.com/travel/restaurants/seans-bar-oldest-ireland |website=Departures.com |date=22 May 2018 | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20180522222029/https://www.departures.com/travel/restaurants/seans-bar-oldest-ireland | archivedate = 22 May 2018 }}
• {{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/fairhillsofirela00gwyniala|quote=Joyce thinks that Luan was a franklin, charged with the duty of hospitality, who maintained here a place of lodging, and that the place was called after him, Ath Luain, Luain's Ford |page=[https://archive.org/details/fairhillsofirela00gwyniala/page/250 250]|title=The Fair Hills of Ireland|last=Gwynn | first = Stephen Lucius|year=1914|publisher=Maunsel}}
• {{Cite web|last=MacEacheran|first=Mike|title=An Irish pub born in the Dark Ages|url=https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20190313-an-irish-pub-born-in-the-dark-ages|access-date=24 August 2021 |publisher=bbc.com| work = BBC Travel - Food & Hospitality | date = 14 March 2019 |language=en}}
• {{Cite web|last=O'Connor|first=Amy|title=Sean's Bar in Athlone is Ireland's oldest pub - and a bona fide tourist attraction|url=https://www.thejournal.ie/seans-bar-athlone-3838978-Feb2018/|access-date=24 August 2021 | website=TheJournal.ie|date = February 2018 | language=en}}
• {{Cite web|last=O'Connor|first=Rachael|title=Séan's Bar: Ireland's oldest pub is 1,119 years old and is still going strong|url=https://www.irishpost.com/life-style/seans-bar-irelands-oldest-pub-1119-years-old-still-going-strong-169676|access-date=24 August 2021 |date = 5 August 2019 | website=The Irish Post}}
• {{Cite web|last=O'Faolain|first=Aodhan|title=High Court rules in favour of pubs in FBD Covid closures case|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/business/financial-services/high-court-rules-in-favour-of-pubs-in-fbd-covid-closures-case-1.4476993| date = 5 February 2021 |access-date=24 August 2021 |website=The Irish Times|language=en}}
• {{cite report| url = https://www.pleanala.ie/publicaccess/EIAR-NIS/HA0051/EIS%20Volume%204%20-%20%20Appendices.pdf | title = Athlone Pedestrian and Cycleway Bridge - Environmental Impact Statement - Volume 4 | date = May 2017 | editor1 = Roughan | editor2 = O'Donovan | publisher = An Bord Pleanala | ref = {{harvid|An Bord Pleanala|2017}} }}
• {{cite book|title=Fodor's Essential Ireland 2020|date=2019|publisher=Fodor's Travel|isbn = 9781640971714 | quote = Sean's Bar styles itself as the world's oldest pub (a claim some cynics dispute, although a framed certificate from Guinness World Records says otherwise) | ref = {{harvid|Fodor's|2019}} }}
• {{cite web|url = https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/15000331/seans-bar-shines-hairdressers-11-13-main-street-athlone-and-bigmeadow-athlone-county-westmeath | publisher = National Inventory of Architectural Heritage | website = buildingsofireland.ie | title = Sean's Bar/Shines Hairdressers, 11-13 Main Street, Athlone and Bigmeadow, Athlone, Westmeath | accessdate = 26 August 2021 | quote = Terraced three-bay two-storey former coaching inn, built c.1725, possibly containing the fabric of earlier buildings | ref = {{harvid|National Inventory of Architectural Heritage}} }}

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{{commons category|Sean's Bar (Athlone)|Sean's Bar}}

• [https://www.seansbar.ie Official website]

{{Athlone}}

Category:Buildings and structures completed in the 10th century

Category:Buildings and structures in Athlone

Category:Organisations based in Athlone

Category:Pubs in the Republic of Ireland