Morrisseys

I was so excited to visit Morriissey’s. I was looking for the irish pub experience. I didn’t find it here. The bartenders were unfriendly and don’t wear the lab coats anymore. The new owner also sold the delivery bike! How could they sell the bike? That’s a big part of Abbeyleix history! If your looking for the irish pub experience try another place. This place didn’t live up to the hype.

Wow, old pub for sure. Been there almost 200 years I was told. We stopped here on a tour from Cork heading back to Dublin. Would loved to have stayed longer.

This is one of the best examples of a classic Irish pub I have ever found. Most have become either too modern or else keep the sawdust on the ground and engage in paddywhackery.
Morrisseys however is a local pub full of locals who don’t want to leave.
Stepping through the doors is like stepping through time. The whole pub has wooden partitions sectioning off areas.
In the middle is an iron wood stove blasting heat. On a cold day you can imagine a lot of people congregating around it.
The whole pub is full of bric a brac and even produce from days gone. Clearly the pub is one that used to double as a grocers in years gone. That theme is kept alive with staff wearing grocer like cover alls.
In terms of beer, it’s the usual suspects but they did just get White Gypsy Ruby on tap for a beer festival. They were very surprised to find their two kegs gone very quickly and the owner jumped in the car and drove to Tipperary to pick up another one for the day. Perhaps they will keep it on, a lot of local Smithwicks drinkers were knocking it back.
One of the guys in work knew it well and even considered buying a house in abbeyleix one time, just so Morrisseys would be his local.

Before the new highway was built, Morrissey’s was a required stop for travelers going back and forth between Dublin and Cork. No better way to break up a long trip (by Irish standards) than stopping for a cold pint in a pub that’s been serving them since 1775. Yup, this little pub is older than ‘Merica.
The charm of Morrissey’s is related to it’s age. The nicknacks, jars, advertisements and other wall and shelf ornaments are exactly in place as they were 100 years ago. Nay, 200. Walking into Morrissey’s is like taking a trip back in time to a simpler place where simpler ways governed the way we lived and people were generally shorter and smaller, as evidenced by the tiny pub stools and tables. One of the coolest things here is the visitor register, which is several volumes thick since it dates back to the pub’s founding, and is still daily updated by those wanting to ink their names into a bit of Irish history. Book of Kells my ass. You can’t write you name in that one, can you? No, you can’t.
«They» say a pub closes each day in modern Ireland. Let’s hope Morrissey’s stands the test of time. Few are as deserving.

I return to this classic Irish pub every time I’m in County Laois. It’s one of the best old pubs in Ireland and worthy of a road trip. During the daytime it’s also suitable for children who will be impressed with the selection of old-​fashion sweets sold by weight.