What would a series of reviews on an Irish town be without a review on at least one pub?
Lacking to say the least, so here goes:-
Blake’s of the Hollow is Enniskillen’s oldest and best known pub and indeed one of the best known and most recognised Victorian pubs in Ireland. Established in 1887, it (or rather part there-of) remains a traditional Irish pub notwithstanding necessary changes down the years to keep it a viable commercial concern.
While it has been a while since I have been in the pub I always thought it was best enjoyed by finding yourself a snug in the Victorian bar at the front of the building which has changed little since 1887 and settling in in the early afternoon, especially on a wet Fermanagh day, with a well poured pint of Guinness or an Irish Coffee. You will find that time flies but fear not you will be invited to leave at closing time!
Interestingly, the enclosed snugs, located to your left and right as you enter the bar, where originally designed for women folk – to keep them out of the main bar which was exclusively a man’s place. A gentleman out for a drink would park his horse outside in the street and then park his wife in one of these snugs with a ginger cordial or the like before joining his friends for a drink in the main bar. Such a men’s place was Blake’s that it wasn’t until the 1960s that a female toilet was installed in the building.
Today both sexes are catered for!
Live traditional music is played on a Friday night and perhaps on some other nights if you strike it lucky.
The pubs website, referring to the front bar, cites an unnamed American travel writer who described it thus: “If Irish pubs were churches, Blake’s of ‘The Hollow’ would be the cathedral of them all”.
An interesting tit-bit is that the (original) tiles on the floor (as depicted in the second picture above – courtesy of Blake’s website) are identical to those of St Michael’s Catholic Church, laid a decade earlier, a hundred metres further up the street. The tiles in Blake’s are much more cracked and worn than those in the church. I guess there is a message in that.
I am less familiar with the remainder of the building which was extensively renovated in the 1990s though I know it contains two further bars – the gothic style Atrium bar and Level Seven a contemporary night club and space used for private parties. Additionally the pub hosts a highly rated restaurant, Café Merlot, which I have not eaten in so can’t personally comment on.
The pub’s original red and black coloured exterior, which features on postcards and in guidebooks everywhere, is said to be so coloured to help people, in the old days, who couldn’t read to identify it as a pub at a time when red and white used to be the colour of a barber’s shop. Perhaps a tall Irish tale – I am not sure.
The Blake ‘family’ has two other pubs, Blake’s at the Diamond – opposite the Town Hall and Blake’s in Derrylin, a village in South Fermanagh about 15kms from Enniskillen. Both these pubs are worthy a visit in their own rights.
Address: 6 Church Street, Enniskillen
Directions: Literally in the hollow on Church Street between the Town Hall and the town’s two main churches.
Phone: (028) 6632 2143
Website: http://www.blakesofthehollow.com/
This blog entry is one of a group (loop) of entries based on many trips to Enniskillen. I suggest you continue with my next entry – Enniskillen Town Hall – or to start the loop at the beginning go to my introductory entry – “Fare thee well Enniskillen, ………..”
The Rambling Wombat 