About
What is it about this pub?

Our Story

There is something special about John Kavanagh The Gravediggers, Public Bar. It always makes an impression, be it for different reasons.
What is it that makes this Dublin bar special?

One thing is the hum of conversation, at a time when our senses are competing with technology and gadgets, this bar is a haven. Conversation is king here.

With no television on the premises, no piped or live music, there has never been a public telephone and we’ve no WiFi; what we do have is the buzz of the chat, soft laughter of a group of pals sharing a joke and people actually conversing using eye contact. New comers and visitors are welcome, the locals, the regulars, the punters are a friendly bunch, and they love to tell a tale or two. They love a new audience, fresh ears for their tales!

The locals, the regulars, the punters and the newbies are a big part in the success of this much-loved Dublin bar. It’s often hard to believe that this bar is real. It has been a backdrop to so many films and TV shows, adverts and documentaries. The counter has propped up many a Hollywood Star but we’ll leave those stories to the locals, and anyway what happens in Kavanagh’s stays in Kavanagh’s.

However, this bar is not a movie or stage set. This is a working bar that has seen many, many years of hard work, of sweat, and its fair share of tears. The dusty often patched up old interior is genuine, it’s real. The bar has evolved over its lifetime and continues to do so. The tables are relics of left over wood, the knocked up benches a late addition in the 1970s. This is not like its fellow City bars of the 1800s with their polished mahogany, gilt mirrors and stain glass. Built in 1833 this bar has its roots in working class clay. Straight talking, no messing, offering the best creamy Pint it can.

Today there is a great generational mix of customers and cosmopolitan folk too. People of all backgrounds, walks of life, from all over the globe
congregate here. This is not a Retro or Reproduction bar; this is the real deal! It is a survivor, John Kavanagh’s The Gravediggers survives because it is very much loved not just by the Kavanagh family that have been running it continuously since 1833 but by those that come to its door.

Nestled in a quiet square, this haven of a nether world survives. Come find it, taste the creamy Pint, chat to a local, sign the visitor’s book
and stay a while. Welcome!