Before my husband and I moved to Athy in 2007, when our house/home was being built, we saw Paddy…read moreDunnes and decided to try it for soup and sandwiches one day.
We never tried anywhere else after than. We used to go into the Lounge, but we would hear great laughter in the bar. Being, Dubs, we asked one of the bar men, then, John, was the bar just for locals, we didn't want to intrude. John told us we were more than welcome to go in to the bar, so on that day Brian and I had our soup and toasted sandwiches and coffee in the Bar and with some of the locals watched "Last of the Summer Wine", and some.
Whenever we went into Paddy Dunnes we only went into the Bar after that. Brian and I enjoyed going into Paddy Dunnes. It was not usual for us to go to a pub when we lived in Dublin.
Sunday's after mass in the Dominican church, Paddy Dunnes's became for Brian and me a place to go, for an extension of the "Spirit". While still drinking coffee or a beer, the spirit of our hearts were lifted or we could just BE.
No pun meant. We met genuine people, who welcomed each other and us and vice versa and we enjoyed each other's company and "genuine Irish Craic". We cared about each other, genuinly cared. Within a very short space of time of finding this 'Hub', there was a sudden serious illness and death of a woman, Mrs. Dunne, [we never had the privilage of meeting her]. We felt 'At Home' in Paddy Dunnes.
It was never dull, the craic, the banter, winding each other up, the rows, god there were some mighty rows, difference of opinion, GAA, Athy, Castlemitchel, the ggs's ............We never came across so many men named John or Jo, but not young enough to have been called after JPII, but not old enough to have been called after John 23rd or John Kennedy.
My Brian, my husband Brian, got cancer and died very suddenly in August 2012. Both Brians family and mine were around me. But we had another family, "The Paddy Dunne's Family".
They were there at the church, they helped lift his coffin up the steps. Brian would have been chuffed. I was chuffed. Our families came back with me to Paddy Dunnes for Soup and sandwiches. Yeah did us proud.
So for a Really Good Pint of Guinness or whatever you're having yourself!! Mega Craic, Extremely Good Staff and a huge mix and gatherum of all sort of people just GO to Paddy Dunnes no matter what the mood. F 'n' B.
