THE Southside’s favourite son has expressed his regret that his spiritual watering hole of Kielys in Donnybrook is up for sale.
The iconic Dublin 4 bar that regularly features in the Ross O'Carroll Kelly series of books will change hands after the owners, Mary and Pat Cremin, announced the news on social media.
The couple said that they will be retiring and "giving our four wonderful children a shot at living their lives".
"It took a lot of soul searching to make this decision as we have had 30 wonderful years in Donnybrook and made lifelong friends not just in Ireland but across the world," they said.
"We want to thank everyone for your support in that time and especially our hard-working staff."
However, they added: "It's not goodbye yet as we expect to be around for several months yet so drop in for a chat.”
Talking to Ryan Tubridy during the week, Mary acknowledged all the phone calls and emails of support from well-wishers but admitted that: “The hardest phone call I had to make yesterday was to Ross O’Carroll-Kelly himself and tell him we were selling up and he was absolutely ‘devo’.”
While Kielys has long been a popular Donnybrook haunt of locals who happily tolerated the invasion of Leinster Rugby supporters over the years, it gained its own notoriety thanks the antics of Ross and mates who regularly gathered there.
In 2014, he was honoured with a plaque erected over the urinals in the gents’ toilets which reads: “This plaque has been erected in honour of Ross O’Carroll Kelly who hit and missed here for many years.”
Ross tweeted: ‘Yes, it's official. Mary and Pat are selling @Kielysdonnyb. I am devastated today. Such wonderful hosts. Borred me many times over the years but always let me back in. It really is the end of an era. Anyone interested in putting together a consortium?’
Ross’s sentiments were echoed by fans, not just from the Southside, but from across the world.
‘Many a credit card night had in there! If the walls could talk,” said one punter, while another added: ‘Sad news, one of the best rugby drink emporiums in the world, and I've been in most!’
‘Best pub in Dublin,” declared another.
