Maurice Fitzgerald's
Fitzgerald's is the village's social pub, a corner premises in red and cream on Strand Street, five minutes' walk from the beach, with a hostel above it and a café in the corner unit. It is in its third generation. Thomas and Betty Fitzgerald founded it in the middle of the 1950s; after Thomas died Betty ran it while raising four children; their son Maurice and his wife Dorren added the hostel to take in travellers; and Maurice James Fitzgerald and his wife Niamh have it now.
Behind is a beer garden the pub calls spacious and family friendly. There is an off-licence on the premises, a pool table and sport on the television. The café, Moe's, occupies what was the corner shop and works as an outdoor coffee stop, with breakfast for people staying upstairs.
Live music is a real part of it rather than a slogan: the pub advertises gigs right through the summer. Guests in the hostel are consistent about the Guinness, one of them calling it probably the best they had tasted in Ireland.
On the menu
The pub's own description is pub classics with some local specials. Named on its site are pork ribs and fries, pizza, chicken wings, fish and chips, and burgers, along with a beer, whiskey and wine list and seasonal cocktails. No prices are published, and the menu on the website is a set of photographs rather than a list, so there is nothing to read.
The facts
- Where
- Strand Street, Castlegregory, V92 F6NX
- Telephone
- 066 713 9951
- Website
- mauricefitzgeraldsbar.ie
- Hours
- The site publishes winter hours only: 3pm Monday to Friday, 1pm at weekends, food from 4.30pm
- Also here
- Hostel, beer garden and Moe's Café
- Off-licence
- In the shop to the right of the pub, selling wine and spirits
Good to know
The published hours are winter hours and the website has not been refreshed since last November, so summer opening will be later and longer than what you read there. The pub itself points people at its Facebook page for current times, which is the honest answer.
The hostel is rated well, but several guests note that music and talk from the bar carry into the rooms above. If you are a light sleeper, that is worth weighing.
How we checked. Family history and food from the pub's own about page. Hours are the winter times it publishes and are stale for summer. Hostel comment from published guest reviews. Opening hours and prices on this coast change without notice, so ring before you travel. If anything here is wrong, tell us and we will fix it.