The next time you fancy going for a drink and you don’t want to get into the car or take the dreaded number 3 bus, you just want to stay local, why not try The Tritonville Bar in the Mount Herbert Hotel? If you’re anything like me, you might say “that’s the hotel with no drink!” Well, not anymore! The Mount Herbert has had a full bar licence since 1998 and the new Tritonville Bar is a great place to spend an evening.

The Tritonville Bar serves excellent food at very reasonable prices. The menu is extensive and the desserts are really good. When I visited recently I had sirloin steak with home-made onion rings and French fries for only €9.95. After that I went for the profiteroles which were as good as I make myself. It just goes to show you that you don’t have to go into town for a good meal and a great night out when it’s all here in Herbert Road– superb bar, large-screen TV, good food plus one of the best pints of Guinness in the area with free car parking for one hundred cars.

The Mount Herbert Hotel is sited on the old Haig’s Distillery. The distillery was set on 21 acres and operated from 1769 to 1860. The nearby river Dodder supplied power to the distillery, through a sluice running wheel on the river. The distillery was founded by Robert Haig, Laird of Bemersyde, the first distiller of the famous Scotch whiskey. The hotel consists of eight semi-detached houses which are now interconnected. These houses were originally constructed in 1866, and were built using bricks from the old distillery.

The hotel was founded in 1955 by George Loughran from Cookstown and his wife, Rosaleen, from Downpatrick. Sadly, Rosaleen passed away last January. George and Rosaleen are very well known in the area for generously providing a venue for a lot of resident and local community group meetings over the years. They also provided plenty of local employment in the area, which still continues. George and Rosaleen had five children, Patricia, John, Paul, Caroline and Louise.

John Loughran now manages the hotel and on a recent visit he gave us a tour. Most of the hotel has been recently refurbished, but John has more plans for the future. One of the bedrooms in The Mount Herbert was used by ‘Fair City’ when filming outside the Carrigstown set and John showed us this as well as many other well-appointed single, double and family rooms in the hotel. The Hotel has 180 bedrooms and the rates are very reasonable.

John made us very welcome and even brought us up to his father’s rooftop apartment. The view is amazing from the roof garden and the walls were adorned with pictures of family members and many famous people who stayed there at one time or another.

Lunch in the new Tritonville bar was a must after this. We sat on the terrace attached to the bar on what was probably the last good day in September. My guest had Goat’s Cheese Bruchetta and I had the fish and chips, which were both excellent. Food is served all day in the bar from 10 am - 11 pm and there is a three-course lunch menu on Sundays from 12.30 - 3.00 for €14.50. The new Tritonville Bar in the Mount Herbert Hotel is well worth a visit. mountherberthotel.ie