History

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The Wren’s Nest Strawberry Beds

The Wren’s Nest is situated on The Strawberry Beds in the townland of Astagob in the Barony of Castleknock and the Civil Parish of Clonsilla. The Strawberry Beds extends for about two miles from the Anglers Rest along the banks of the River Liffey. It is a little over 10km from O’Connell Bridge.
The premises are beside the famous Wren’s Nest Weir (also known as Devils Mills). This weir is well known to participants of the annual Liffey Descent Canoe Race as it is very tricky to navigate and even experienced canoeists can come a cropper here. Sadly, over the years a number of drownings

have occurred at this weir. Up to the early part of the 20th century it was customary for bodies taken from the river to be removed to the nearest public house to await identification by relatives. The mother of the present proprietors recalls when she was a child seeing bodies of drowning victims laid out on a table in the Tap Room of the Wren’s Nest.

In bygone days, the Strawberry Beds was famous for its strawberries which were cultivated along the bank of the river and on the slopes of the hills leading to the river. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, many Dubliners went on excursion to the Strawberry Beds in horses and carriages from Carlisle (O’Connell) Bridge at 3 old pence per passenger. There were long processions stretching from Parkgate Street to Knockmaroon. Strawberry vendors, fiddlers and publicans catered for the holidaymakers. At that time, the Wren’s Nest was one of a number of premises along the Strawberry Beds where alcoholic beverages could be obtained. In the book “The Brimming River”, (Allen Figgis & Co. Ltd, 1961), Raymond F. Brooke includes a poem entitled “A Short Description of the Strawberry Beds” which outlines in verse the various establishments along the Strawberry Beds from Mount Sackville Convent to the Wren’s Nest.

Mr. Ennis keeps the Wren’s Nest,
A little farther than the rest,
And has charming shady bowers
Where you might spend some happy hours.

Not much is known about the early history of The Wren’s Nest, but we know it goes back a long way and is probably the oldest pub in Co. Dublin. It has been in the present family for five generations going back to the early 1800s. Hughie Ennis, who is a great uncle of the present proprietors always maintained that the Wren was as old as Trinity College, Dublin. Trinity was founded in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth I. In 1975, during renovation work, it was necessary to remove a pitch pine beam in one of the main walls of the house. It bore the date 1588 carved with an auger. A section of that old beam is preserved and can be viewed in the Tap Room.

The Wren is a traditional pub consisting of a very small bar and a Tap Room. Writing in the Daily Telegraph in 1985, the reporter Jeremy Lewis described the bar in the Wren thus “… to the left of the front door, was a diminutive bar. Behind it stood an aged Irishman pouring drinks extremely slowly and discussing the issues of the day with his equally aged customers, many of whom wore cloth caps and collarless shirts with studs…” He went on to say: “Apart from being extremely snug and companionable, it was always absurdly empty, for its entire clientele of an evening consisted of perhaps half-a-dozen pensioners and a rather smaller contingent of idlers from Trinity College. It had the added advantage of never appearing to close.”
Like a lot of old pubs, the Wren bottled its own stout which was supplied in wooden barrels by Guinnesses. This practice continued until the late 1960s when draught stout and beer became available and bottling was done by commercial bottlers.
The earliest records show that the premises originally belonged to a Margaret Wilson who lived in Capel Street, Dublin. The business was managed, and the fruit garden attached to the Wren was worked by her brother William Allen Wilson. Margaret Wilson died on the 27thJanuary 1877 and William Allen Wilson was left a life interest in the premises and lands. William survived his sister by only 19 months and died on 31st August 1878.
At that stage, the premises passed to Mary Halpin (1850 – 1922) who was a cousin of Margaret and William Wilson. Mary Halpin married Luke Ennis (1842 – 1908) on 24th February 1878. Luke was originally from Garristown, Co. Dublin.
Between 1878 and 1894, Luke and Mary had eight children:

Hugh Died in infancy
Mary Elizabeth 1880 – 1949
Margaret Mary 1882 – 1948
Thomas John 1883 – 1904
Agnes Mary 1885 – 1954
James Joseph 1887 – 1950
Hugh Francis 1889 – 1972
Veronica Mary 1894 – 1955

Unusually, their youngest son was named after their firstborn, who died in infancy. But he was always called Hughie. Despite such a large family, only three of them married –

Margaret, James and Hughie and of these, only Margaret had children. Luke and Mary ran the Wren until his death in 1908 and Mary continued as proprietor until her death in 1922. The premises then passed to her youngest son Hughie who married Gertrude Kelly in 1925. They had no family.
Hughie continued to run the Wren from the time of his mother’s death in 1922 until about 1960. He was assisted by his wife Gertrude from the time of their marriage in 1925 until her death in 1951. Following the death of Gertrude, Hughie’s niece, Maureen Tobin, daughter of his sister Margaret, assisted him.
Hughie was a great lover of classical music and opera. He would often entertain customers with gramophone recordings of his favourite pieces. It was not unknown for customers to be told to keep quiet and wait for service until an aria concluded.

It was during this time that a young barman by the name of Johnny O’Rourke from Blanchardstown got to hear of Hughie and The Wren’s Nest. Johnny was also a great lover of classical musical and had a fine tenor voice. He began frequenting the Wren. It was there that he fell in love with Hughie’s niece, Maureen and they were married in 1955. Johnny and Maureen settled in Herbert Road in Blanchardstown. However, by the end of the 1950s, there was a downturn in business, the Wren had fallen into disrepair and Hughie’s health was declining. Hughie asked Johnny and Maureen to come and live with him in the Wren.
This was a tough decision for a young married couple who, by this time had a little daughter, Maria. It was particularly hard as there was no electricity nor running water in the Wren and no public transport on the Strawberry Beds. However, the decision was made, and the family left their home in Blanchardstown to join Hughie in the Wren.

Over the following years Johnny and Maureen set about renovating the premises. They had water and electricity laid on. However, Hughie was adamant that he did not want to get rid of the old Duplex oil lamps in the bar and these continued in use for several more years until Hughie’s death in 1972. In 1969 a toilet block built. In addition, major repairs were required to the roof and fabric of the building. An annex at the front (shown in the first photograph) had become dangerous and had to be demolished in the 1960s
In the 1970s, business had picked up considerably. The Wren had become well known for its music sessions and the quality of “the pint”. People came in large numbers from far and wide, particularly at weekends.

Johnny and Maureen decided to extend the premises and in 1975 a lounge was built, and additional car-parking spaces provided. The old oil lamps were converted to electricity and they can still be seen in the bar and Tap Room.
Over the years, many famous visitors have graced the Wren including Mick Jagger, The Dubliners, Julia Roberts, Daniel Day Lewis, Guy Richie and Packie Bonner. The late Brian Lenihan Jr T.D. was a regular visitor and could often be persuaded to give a rendition of his party-piece “The West’s Awake”
The album cover of The Dubliners’ LP “At Home with the Dubliners” released in 1969, shows the group sitting in front of a roaring fire in the Tap Room of the Wren’s Nest.
A story is told of a visiting American who asked for a “Scotch on the rocks”. Hughie looked around his premises in an appeal for translation. On being informed that the request was for Scotch whisky with ice cubes, Hughie apologised with old world courtesy and pointed out that he stocked only Irish whiskey and that ice was available as in season!
Johnny O’Rourke died in 1997 and Maureen along with daughters Una and Stella continued to run the Wren.
Sadly, following a short illness, in January 2020 Maureen died in her 98th year.