In August 2018 the Big Tree on Dorset Street, one of Dublin’s best known pubs, ceased trading as the site was to be re-developed as a 163 bedroom hotel. According to some reports the original planning permission was for a student accommodation complex.
The pub derived its current name in the aftermath of the 1798 rebellion when after a 60 second trial by Alderman of Dublin City and judge to the prerogative court sentenced John Claudius Beresford, one of Dublin’s most notorious character’s, and 5 other men to be hanged at the spot outside the tavern where they were arrested. The tree that they were hanged from became known as the Big Tree and over the years the tavern became known as the Big Tree Tavern.
The Tavern has been on the site since 1543 originating as an Inn. Back in the medieval days it was famously known as the “Rose Tavern”.
This photograph dates from my 2016 visit to the city and at the time this pub did not really catch my attention however I photographed it again in 2021 and it was still unoccupied and today I checked on Google Maps and it still appears to be unoccupied but of course Google might be out off date.
Penrose Lane was known locally as Dennys Lane and it was the scene of the 1896-67 Pig strike. Pig traders/buyers based in the Ballybricken area had a local monopoly on buying from farmers in order to supply local bacon producers but the factories began to buy direct from the producers.
By the middle of the 19th Century, around 75% of the Irish pork products imported into London were coming from Waterford. The City and its surrounds were at that point huge manufacturers of sausages and bacon, largely due to the Denny’s factory, a family business passed from generation to generation. Denny’s still exists today but the factory in Waterford shut in March 1972 .
As already mentioned there is a lot of unoccupied property or derelict sites in Waterford and the more I visit the more that I have become aware of. In October 2016 it was reported that the Showboat had been sold and that it would reopen in 2017.
In September 2019 local publications reported that Waterford City & County Council was set to act ‘aggressively’ on Waterford’s well-known vacant pub sites. The specifically mentioned The Showboat and the Halfway House and Grand Hotel Tramore sites.
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