Status : Closed 2000
44 Donegall Quay
Belfast
BT1 3EE
Much of the face of Belfast has been changed in the past 25 years by the so-called march of progress, in whose name men sacrifice quaint customs for new ideas in keeping with the pace of our modern civilisation. Thankfully, small bars can still be found untouched by the march of time. One such bar is The Liverpool Bar, down by the Docks. For years it was traditionally a dockers’ bar, but since they have become a dying breed it’s the hauliers, passengers on the Liverpool ferry across the street, and casual visitors who now frequent it. The bar is now owned by Tom Kelly, son of one of my father’s closest friends, Jimmy Kelly, one of the most honourable men it was my pleasure to know. Tom formerly owned Kelly’s Wine Stores of Short Strand, and a reminder of those days is the large mirror on the wall as you enter with the engraved words “Kelly’s Wine Stores, 96, Short Strand”. In the small back room, around the walls, hang various life belts, like St. Patrick 11 (Belfast to Ardrossan), M.V. Ulster Prince (Belfast to Liverpool), and M.V. Ulster Queen (Belfast to Liverpool), all reminders of the old ferry ships that berthed close by.
This small pub is a nice example of a traditional working man’s pub: no snugs, no antiques (in case they would be lifted), and definitely untouched by that faint whiff of the museum that a restored pub sometimes gives off.
There used to be a sign outside Clay’s Tavern in nearby Gamble Street, displaying a tree, a bird, a bell, and a fish. This was a reference to a poem which went like this:
The tree that never grew, the bird that never flew, the bell that never rang, the fish that never swam.
This stumped many a local, until somebody said it referred to a coat-of-arms of a city, but I never did find out which city.