Mad Men Watch: Dublin House

On a recent episode of "Mad Men" (# 306), Joan's surgeon husband Greg stays out late after he's passed over for Chief Resident and unceremonioulsly informed that he has "no brains in his hands." After stumbling into the apartment he shamefacedly tells Joan the bad news. The winning candidate and his colleagues had gone out for drinks to celebrate.  Greg says "I couldn't bring myself to go--I spent all night at the Dublin House." I flashed immediately on a mental image of the bar's sign on West 79th Street, a neon sign, with a green harp and the bar's name in red. I'd logged a few hours in the dark, friendly-but-not-too-friendly joint back in the 80s and in my memory of the place it was a perfect spot to spend a few morose hours mourning your dashed dreams over some scotch on the rocks.

I jumped  on the 1 train and headed up to the Upper West Side to see how the bar looked today. Remarkably unchanged from the 80s, and I'd guess from 1963 when the episode takes place. An gracious, attractive woman who runs the bar's Facebook page introduced herself (79 people are fans of  I'd rather be at the Dublin House]. She knew the bar had been mentioned on the show but not in what context--when I explained she laughed. "There are a few television personalities who live in the neighborhood who've gotten in big trouble with their wives after staying here very late when they had to be up really early the next morning." It's nice to see that some things don't change, and a friendly neighborhood bar that's there for some unrepentant drinking is always welcome. It's clearly a neighborhood spot with no pretensions on either side of the bar, which is refreshing in contrast to the ever- increasingly slick, overly polished  York bar scene. J.R.

 

Comments

[Anthony Coleman]

Jason, if you go back far enough (circa 1981) you might remember the Knights of Columbus sign the hung just west of the entrance (and east of Woolworth's). Myself and a couple of other classmates from Calhoun are the reason it's no longer there.
I remember when there were individual lights in the booths on the back room. UGH

[Mountaineer]

The DH is my sanctuary.... I met my wife there on a blind date 5 years ago, got engage there 5 years later - now 5 years later, my wife is "with child".... I'm trying to negotiate that we have the birth in the back room and baptism there to follow a year after that.

I will be there later tonight...

Truly a MAGICAL place..

[Adam Bomb 1701]

My uncle owns the "Dublin House", and I was thrilled when I heard it mentioned in the "Mad Men" episode. Except for (IIRC) making the bar longer, it has remained pretty much unchanged since the 1960's.