The highest pub in Ireland?

The claim

The pub describes itself as the highest pub in Ireland, and a carved sign outside welcomes visitors to it in those words. A claim like this is the pub's own, and altitude records for pubs are the kind of thing that can be disputed. What can be said is narrower: Glencullen, the village the pub stands in, has high ground of about 300 metres, and it counts as one of the highest villages in Ireland. The pub's setting is high by any Dublin standard.

A farm that became a pub

The pub says it began as a small holding farm, and it gives 1798 as its founding year, the year of the Irish Rebellion. It still keeps farm names for its rooms. The pub's history page says Daniel O'Connell, the 19th-century political leader, was a regular patron while living in Glencullen, and that it is said he addressed supporters at a meeting there. The Pig House, where animals were once fed and housed, is now a dining room with a hearth. The Top Kitchen, the Haggart, a small outdoor enclosure once used for storing hay, and the Parlour all keep their farm names.

The Parlour

The Parlour is where the Hooley happens. On the pub's own account it was originally the parloir, kept for special guests and known in Irish households as the best room. The pub uses hooley for a slightly wild, noisy party held in that private room. It is a fitting setting: a room built for visitors who were meant to be looked after, now used for visitors who are fed, entertained and shown a good time.

Glencullen, the valley of the holly

Glencullen is a village and townland in south County Dublin, and its Irish name, Gleann Cuilinn, means valley of the holly. It lies roughly 14 km out of the city, on the R116 road and on the slopes of Two Rock Mountain. The 2022 census counted 376 residents. Its small primary school and Gaelic football club give it a village life of its own, and the pub is at its centre.

Old stones above the valley

The hills around Glencullen are older than the pub by thousands of years. A Bronze Age wedge tomb, known locally as the giant's grave, stands at Ballyedmonduff on the south-eastern slope of Two Rock Mountain. Glencullen also has a standing stone and an earthen burial mound from the same period. The pub's own local guide notes the Megalithic tomb walk on the mountain, with the summit known as Fairy Castle.

Walks and views from the door

The pub's guide lists walks that start or finish near its door, including a route towards The Gap in Ticknock Forest that joins the Dublin Mountains Way and the Wicklow Way. On a clear day, views from the hills stretch across Dublin Bay. It is a sensible way to spend an afternoon before an evening at the Hooley, as long as the weather behaves. The area has mild, damp summers and cool, wet winters, so bring a waterproof.

What it adds to the evening

The setting explains much of the Hooley's appeal. You leave the city, climb into the hills and arrive at a pub that keeps its farmhouse rooms, and the dinner and show happen in a room with a story. None of that needs the highest-pub claim to be true. It needs only a warm room, a hearth and a night out, and the valley outside to remind you how far you have come from the city. See the tickets guide for what the booking covers.

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