Looking for a grade A listed building where you can see gryphons and lions under a painted ceiling while you sip your pint? We know just the spot…

Built in 1826, Belfast’s most glamorous bar had a modest beginning as a railway tavern facing the Great Northern station. That would change in the 1880s when a new owner, Michael Flanagan, changed its name to the Crown Liquor Saloon and began work on its extraordinary interior.

Stained glass, gleaming tiles and hand-laid mosaics, burnished brass, polished granite and those ornate plaster mouldings: no-one had ever seen anything quite like it. Much of the interior design was created by Italian craftsmen after their day job, installing the mosaics in St Peter’s Cathedral on the Falls Road. The bar’s distinctive tiled exterior and columned porch was added in 1898. 

Of particular interest to those looking for a quiet pint (or a romantic tryst?) are the snugs; ten booths where patrons can meet and relax in discreet comfort.

During The Troubles, The Crown’s location facing the often-bombed Europa Hotel meant that it suffered repeated damage. But somehow it kept going. In 1978 the bar was acquired by the National Trust, which began a lengthy project to restore The Crown’s interiors to their original grandeur. 

As The Crown’s fame has grown throughout the world, it has become a magnet for celebrities passing through Belfast. However, as everyone in Belfast knows, there’s really only ever been one real star: The Crown itself.

An bhfuil tú ar lorg foirgneamh liostaithe grád A ina dtig leat gríobha agus leoin a fheiceáil faoi shíleáil phéinteáilte agus tú ag ól do phionta? Tá a fhios againn an áit duitse…

Tógtha sa bhliain 1826, bhí tús measartha ag an bheár is galánta i mBéal Feirste mar thábhairne iarnróid os comhair Mhór-Iarnród an Tuaiscirt. Tháinig athrú air sin sna 1880í, áfach, nuair a d’athraigh an t-úinéir nua, Michaael Flanagan, an t-ainm go The Crown Liquor Saloon, agus thosaigh sé an obair ar an taobh istigh suaithinseach. 

Gloine dhaite, tíleanna lonracha agus mósáicí lámhleagtha, prás sciomartha, eibhear snasta agus na múnluithe ornáideacha plástair sin: ní fhacthas a leithéid riamh. Chruthaigh ceardaithe Iodálacha cuid mhór den dearadh intí i ndiaidh bpoist lae, bhí siad i mbun na mósáicí a chur in Ardeaglais Naomh Peadar ar Bhóthar na bhFál. Cuireadh an taobh amuigh tílithe agus an póirse colúin leis an bheár sa bhliain 1898.

Tá na clúideacha ar dóigh dóibh siúd atá ag iarraidh pionta ciúin (nó coinne rómánsúil?); tá deich mboth ann ina dtig le pátrúin teacht le chéile agus a scíth a ligint go compordach agus go discréideach. 

I rith na dTrioblóidí, rinneadh dochar ar The Crown arís agus arís eile as siocair go raibh sé os comhair Óstán Europa a buamáladh go minic. Ach d’éirigh leis leanstan ar aghaidh ar bhealach éigin. Cheannaigh an tIontaobhas Náisiúnta an beár sa bhliain 1978, agus thosaigh siad tionscadal fada leis an taobh istigh de The Crown a athchóiriú go dtí a mhaorgacht bhunaidh. 

De réir mar a d’fhás clú agus cáil The Crown ar fud an domhain, thosaigh na daoine mór le rá agus na réaltaí a bhí ag teacht fríd Béal Feirste ag dul isteach fá choinne cúpla deoch. Mar sin féin, mar is eol d’achan duine i mBéal Feirste, níl ann ach réalta amháin: The Crown é féin.