Well Holy Joe, there was an actual Copper Face Jack!
Well, fancy that. Copper's, that landmark Irish institution on Harcourt Street, is named after a real man.
The Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, no less, and the Earl of Clonmell (yep, it used to be spelled that way), so he was a Tipperary man. But that's not the interesting bit.
No, the story of John Scott is a good 'un: why he's worthy of having Dublin's most infamous drinking emporium named after him, and the revenge (involving pigs!) plotted against him by his enemy that eventually broke him down 'til he died a lonely man.
The story comes from Frank Hopkins via the team at Storymap Dublin, who catalogue small, forgotten stories about the capital. They've over 100 little gems like this, and they're all worth checking out on the map.
You can find out more about the real-life Copper Face Jack on his Wikipedia page.
