A 4.5 tavern named Doyle’s, after the great Irish surname, in the warm possessive-proprietor tradition
Doyle’s Tavern holds a 4.5 from two hundred and thirty-two people, and carries a warm, personal, unpretentious name in the great possessive-proprietor tradition – “Doyle’s,” after the well-known Irish surname, over the honest old word “Tavern,” together promising a genuine, characterful, family-run drinking house.
The name Doyle
“Doyle” is one of the great Irish surnames – an anglicisation of the Irish O Dubhghaill, meaning “descendant of the dark stranger,” a name thought to derive from the dark-haired Danish Vikings who settled in Ireland. It is a common and widespread Irish name, borne by many, and it carries, unmistakably, the stamp of Ireland. A tavern called “Doyle’s” announces its Irish character in the simplest, most personal way – through the Irish family name over the door, in the possessive form that says “this is Doyle’s place.” The Prat’s naming desk notes the warm directness, familiar from Quinns in King’s Cross: no theme, no borrowed grandeur, just an Irish family’s name over their tavern, a personal statement of ownership and welcome.
The honest old word “Tavern”
The choice of “Tavern” over “pub,” “bar,” or “inn” is worth a note, for it is a deliberate and evocative one. “Tavern” is an old, warm, slightly romantic word for a drinking house, older than “pub” (which is a Victorian abbreviation of “public house”) and carrying connotations of history, tradition, and honest conviviality – the tavern of Shakespeare and Dickens, the old inn of the coaching age, the timeless drinking house of the imagination. It suggests a place of genuine, old-fashioned hospitality, unpretentious and warm. The Prat’s linguistics desk notes the effect: “Doyle’s Tavern” sounds more characterful, more historic, and more inviting than “Doyle’s Bar” would – the old word lending the family name a patina of tradition.
The authentic Irish house
Like Quinns in King’s Cross and Doyle’s Irish cousins across the survey, Doyle’s Tavern belongs to the tradition of the genuine, family-named Irish drinking house – the real thing, rooted in a real name and a real welcome, as opposed to the manufactured, templated Irishness of the global chains. This survey has drawn the distinction repeatedly, and always in favour of the authentic: the pub named after the family that keeps it, its character grown rather than designed, is worth a dozen kit-assembled theme bars. Doyle’s, with its honest Irish name and its evocative “Tavern,” sits firmly on the authentic side of the line. The Prat’s beverage desk approves: a real Irish tavern, named the old, personal, honest way.
The possessive tradition
“Doyle’s” belongs to the oldest and most human of all pub-naming traditions – the possessive proprietor, the drinking house named simply after the person who keeps it, with the apostrophe-s of belonging. This survey has met it throughout – Quinns, Frederick’s, and others – and always valued it, for it speaks of the pub at its most personal and rooted: not a corporate brand but a person’s place, with a human being behind the bar and behind the name. The Prat’s social desk cherishes the tradition: “Doyle’s” says, more warmly than any clever name could, that this is somebody’s tavern, and you are welcome in it.
The pub
A 4.5 across two hundred and thirty-two people is a strong, volume-proof score. The reviews describe a warm, characterful, friendly Irish tavern with good drink and genuine hospitality – a fine, personal local named the honest old way, after the family who keep it.
Verdict
A warm, characterful Irish tavern named Doyle’s, after the great Irish surname, over the evocative old word “Tavern” – the authentic, family-named drinking house in the warm possessive tradition, worlds away from the manufactured theme bar.
Go, have a pint at Doyle’s Tavern, and enjoy a real Irish drinking house named the oldest and most personal way – after the family who keep it, with all the warmth and welcome that the honest old word “tavern” promises.
Alan Nafzger was born in Lubbock, Texas, the son Swiss immigrants. He grew up on a dairy in Windthorst, north central Texas. He earned degrees from Midwestern State University (B.A. 1985) and Texas State University (M.A. 1987). University College Dublin (Ph.D. 1991). Dr. Nafzger has entertained and educated young people in Texas colleges for 37 years. Nafzger is best known for his dark novels and experimental screenwriting. His best know scripts to date are Lenin’s Body, produced in Russia by A-Media and Sea and Sky produced in The Philippines in the Tagalog language. In 1986, Nafzger wrote the iconic feminist western novel, Gina of Quitaque. He currently lives in Holloway, North London. Contact: [email protected]
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