Reviving Gaeilge in ‘Four Provinces’ Pub

Four Provinces Brewery started six years ago, in the house of brewer Aindriú Ó Murchú, with friend Feargal Chambers, who then both went on to co-found and co-own the company. Four years later they were able to open their own brewing factory in Kimmage. Their latest achievement is the Four Provinces pub, which opened two months ago in the building of the former Black Horse Inn, a local pub that had closed five years ago.

“We wanted to start our own brewing company, and Aindriú was working in a brewery at the time and I was about to do the course he did, in brewing and distilling, but I didn’t bother in the end, and we just got into it that way and kept going from there!” recalled Feargal.

The original Black Horse branding remains on the windows and mirrors of the pub, a call back to the old place the locals loved so much. As we looked around at the classic décor, Feargal chatted to two elderly regulars, and told us how they had been coming to the Black Horse since they were eighteen and how happy they are to see it reopened as the Four Provinces Pub.

“I think we have an amazing product with the pub, it’s a really unique South Dublin experience, as well as being a local neighbourhood pub,” he said. “It’s a complete authentic beer experience that isn’t just catering to tourists, it’s here for locals as well and it’s giving them a better quality of beer than what they’re used to.”

Four Provinces boasts a wide range of beers that are brewed in the nearby brewery, all made with Kimmage water. There’s even a lager called Poddle, named after the local Poddle River. “Many of the locals think we take it straight from the Poddle, which we don’t!” laughed Feargal.

Value is also important to them. “Most of our drinks are a fiver a pint,” Feargal pointed out. “It’s a student friendly pub, it’s an OAP friendly pub, it’s a middle aged friendly pub. There’s music on four nights a week, we have a function room for events, and we feel like we cater to everyone here. We feel like we’re giving value to the locality.”

Both of the men admitted that brewing isn’t an easy market to get into, and it has been a difficult journey to get to where they are now. Competition is a big part of the alcohol industry, Aindriú said it’s impossible to challenge huge companies that have been around for years.

“We can produce a maximum of 24 thousand litres a month, whereas for big companies that could be one days brewing for them,” he explained. “It is friendly enough competition with small breweries, though.”

However, Aindriú and Feargal are passionate that the pub isn’t just a drinking den, it’s a huge spectrum of different things. They’re both incredibly enthusiastic about Irish culture and Irish language, with Feargal having attended a Gaeilscoil when he was younger.

“Irish language is core to all our beliefs and our culture here at the company,” Feargal said. “All of our beers celebrate culture, that was our aim from the start. We have Gaeilge on all of our cans and the staff are all bilingual in the pub. There’s actually lots of Irish speakers around here, so they can come in and converse as Gaeilge.”

“Not everyone in the pub is 100 percent fluent, which I think is important,” added Aindriú. “There’s learners, there’s people at an intermediate level and there’s fluent speakers, so there’s a mix.”

Four Provinces is also proud to stock strictly Irish products, with manager Ross Geraghty eagerly pointing out their Micil Gin and Poitin from Connemara, and their Poachers tonic from Wicklow. “We try to use only Irish products where we can, and support local businesses,” he said.

“Our ethos is that we want people to support local businesses like us, but if we want that to happen then we have to support other local Irish businesses as well,” added Aindriú.

Another unique element of the pub is that it’s dog friendly, and has a Madra na Míosa competition in which they choose a dog of the month.

“There’s loads of people who bring in dogs; we have a little dog bowl and snacks for the dogs,” said Feargal.

Four Provinces beer is set to be distributed nationwide over the next few months and the pub hopes to become increasingly popular with locals, Gaeilgeoirs and tourists going off the beaten track.