The Big Tree, the iconic sporting pub on Dorset Street in Dublin, reopened on Friday, February 25th.
The pub is open to customers again after a significant remodelling.
The pub is now part of a 163-bedroom hotel called Dublin One which opened on Lower Dorset Street on February 4th. Both premises are managed by Cliste Hospitality.
The Big Street is located on the corner of North Circular Road, which was laid out in the 1780s, and Dorset Street Lower, a pub or inn has reportedly occupied this site since 1543.
It grew to fame first as the Rose Tavern, mentioned in historical accounts of those times, and where Huguenot settlers are reported to have created Ireland’s first Florists’ Club and held their meetings.
The pub derived its current name in the aftermath of the 1798 rebellion where five men, captured by militia, were sentenced to death by notorious alderman and judge, John Claudius Beresford, after a minute-long trial, and hung from a big tree nearby. The tree that they were hanged from became known as the Big Tree and over the years the tavern also became known by the same name.
The building once also operated as a grocery and served as the Petty Sessions Courthouse for Drumcondra in the late Victorian period.
The Big Tree is also well-loved by GAA fans, and a traditional venue for celebrations before and after big matches at Croke Park.
The reopening of The Big Tree and Dublin One creates 80 jobs in total in the Dublin 1 area.
