Status : Alley Cat/ Bootleggers
46 Church Ln, Belfast BT1 4QN
As pubs go in the centre of Belfast, this is not too old, opened in 1962 by my old friends Paddy Hunt and Jack Hinds. 21 years after the complete destruction of Mr. James Hendron’s former bar during the Blitz on Belfast on the night of 4th May 1941. German bombing that night devastated half of Belfast’s industrial heart, killing 150 with another 157 badly injured. The worst night of the Blitz took place 19 days earlier, on 15th April. The Germans, on a dark night, dropped over 200 tons of bombs, mistakenly on the north side of the city, thinking the gleam from the waterworks was the mouth of the Lagan. By the time the ‘all clear’ went off around 5 o’clock the following morning, over 700 had died – mostly civilians. 1,500 were injured, 1,600 houses were destroyed, and another 28,500 houses were severely damaged. Official records of the war years have confirmed that no other city in the U.K., except London, throughout the war years, had lost more of her citizens in one night’s raid than Belfast.
Since 1978, Billy McSorley has been the proud owner. Don’t be put off by the front of this bar. I personally don’t think it’s in keeping with what you will see inside. Once you enter by way of a small porch with a mural of a cock engraved on the window, your eyes are immediately drawn to the bar area with its wonderful canopy of straw, which resembles a thatch cottage. It is very well executed. All around are little touches of the Irish countryside, like the old swinging crook and pots underneath the staircase; or the porcelain cock and hen behind the bar. Over the entrance porch, are stuffed wild animals, like the barn owl, badger, fox, weasel, stoat, rabbit, squirrel and pheasant, to name just a few. Attractive stonework has been effectively used in different parts of the building, and the basketwork lampshades blend skilfully in with the decor.
A flight of wooden stairs will take you up to the Spanish Bar, with its collection of Spanish memorabilia. Nicely done, but I thought it would have been much better to carry on the Irish theme upstairs.
I must say, I liked this bar – especially the thatched roof. This bar would be popular with our overseas visitors: all that is missing is the wonderful aroma of turf smoke.