Status : Closed
15 Main Street
Larne
BT40 1JQ
If you remember those lovely little antique shops, which used to be the heart of the old Smithfield market in Belfast, the kind of place where you could expect to find just about anything, then you will be pleased no doubt to hear that the spirit of such places is still alive and well and living in the Cellars Public House in Larne. Formerly the Railway Tavern because of its popularity with the railway workers, the Cellars Bar was originally, of all things, a church manse.
Today it doubles as a bar and sort of storehouse for all kinds of memorabilia and odds and ends. You’ll find a pair of Dutch clogs, candle snuffers, a stuffed goat’s head, a sawfish, gin traps, tilley lamps, a gazelle’s skull, all collected by or presented to the publican.
Two very old plates, one showing Dickens, the other Burns, were donated by a customer on the condition that they should never be sold before the donor’s death. The brass name plates of H.M.S.EAGLE and the ARK ROYAL are here too, reflected in a rare and valuable Cruisheen Lawn Whiskey mirror. Sit yourself down on one of the Massey Ferguson style seats at the Singer sewing-machine-stand tables, and try to figure out what some of those odd looking instruments and other items are. In some cases, your guess is probably as good as that of whoever presented them. Isn’t it funny how things tend to get put away and kept for years in Cellars?
WHY WORRY?
There are only two things to worry about. Either you are well or you are sick. If you are well then there is nothing to worry about. But if you are sick then there are two things to worry about. Either you get well or you will die. If you get well there is nothing to worry about. But if you die then there are two things to worry about. Either you go to heaven or hell. If you go to heaven there is nothing to worry about. But if you go to hell You’ll be so damn busy shaking hands with friends. You won’t have time to worry.