History

They say that granite in the mountain breeds a certain kind of men. The Blue Light is a pub built from hand-cut stone in Barnacullia – from the Irish ‘top of the woods’ – a small village community set amongst the old granite quarries in the Dublin Mountains.

When the pub began entertaining quarrymen in the 1700s, taxes on imported spirits were so high that the locals needed to be resourceful. They devised a plan.

Once the coast was clear of customs officials, the locals lit a blue ship’s lantern at the front of the pub which could be seen by the smuggler boats, below in Dublin Bay. The Blue Light shining from the mountaintop signalled to the smugglers that they could bring their contraband spirits ashore and up to Barnacullia. It also let the locals know that the party was about to get started.

Although the smugglers have long since departed, The Blue Light still shines every night to welcome in locals and visitors alike for Guinness, Irish whiskey, good music and great craic.