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John Kavanagh
- Hours:
Mon-Thu 10:30 - 23:30
Fri-Sat 10:30 - 0:00
Sun 12:30 - 23:00
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
€€
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Happy Hour:
- Yes
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Smoking:
- Outdoor Area/ Patio Only
- Coat Check:
- No
10 reviews for John Kavanagh
10 reviews in English
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Review from Keith R.
3/11/2011
a.k.a. the Gravediggers (for obvious reasons). Frequently on the best pubs lists. For a reason, it is fantastic all year round. Hidden away, looks like a row of old houses/shops, with a small green in front. Great some early evening summer pints sitting on the grass.
Super Guinness, friendly (regular) staff, and only 10 mins by bus from my house.
A real gem.Listed in: Best place for a pint in…
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Review from Aisling M.
Dublin
11/4/2011 ROTD 19/4/2011
This place is steeped in history and you really do feel like you are stepping back in time, having a drink in the bar. Really friendly and welcoming atmosphere, great place for a chat with friends.
The lounge does a lovely Tapas menu in the evenings and on Friday they have oysters that are the best value I've seen in Dublin. The staff are really friendly and service is efficient.
They let you drink on the green outside as long as you get a plastic glass, and on a sunny Friday after work its really buzzing. -
Review from Cathal C.
Dublin
23/7/2009 4 photos
John Kavanaghs - or the Gravediggers as it is more commonly known - is a great place to have a pint and a toasted special of an afternoon. No sports on the television (no television at all, in fact), no music on in the background. Nothing at all to impede the activity that the pub was ergonomically designed to facilitate: good conversation.
The pub is somewhat out of the way, tucked away as it is next to Glasnevin Cemetery. You'd have to make the effort to go to the Gravediggers, buy people do. Apart from having a lovely original interior, the pub also has a grand little courtyard for sitting out in on the rare occasions that the weather permits.
The Gravediggers has been around for a long time, and is part of Dublin's rich folk-history. The pub features in a scene in Ulysses, and the phrase "going for a jar" was coined in relation to the pub. Back in the day, there were no off licences, and people would buy whatever bottles they needed from the pub. But during the First World War, there was a shortage of glass bottles, so people would get their porter home by filling up big ceramic jars - "going for a jar".
Least that's according to oul' Kavanagh behind the bar, but you couldn't believe half the stories that he'd tell ye. -
Review from Claire G.
Dublin
11/11/2009
Was here for Arthur Guinness Day, what a great experience (the poor barmen couldn't keep up with the orders).
There's no television or even music - so if you really like a great chat, this is the place for you. -
Review from Alexandra M.
Dublin
20/7/2009
What makes this pub so likable is that it is small and has tons of personality and history. The gravediggers is split into two areas: one for the young and boisterous and the other for the older and equally as rowdy.
Its all wood interior gives you a warm feeling despite the fact that the decor lacks frills. It's situated on a green that becomes a beer garden where locals do their summer drinking on a Saturday night.
Another thing that makes this place special is that it's hidden from view. It's tucked behind the Glasnevin Cemetery (hence its name) with an entrance on Prospect Avenue and another one on Mobhi Road. Ask any local and they will be able to direct. -
Review from Josh G.
29/7/2009
All stereotypes aside, you know Dubliners like to talk when you step into this family pub. Everything in it is conducive to having a night out with mates talking about nothing while doing less and drinking more.
Unless you live just down the road, it's somewhat difficult to place, which combines with the lack of BS "entertainment" options to keep the place from becoming a trendy yuppie establishment or a tourist trap.
In the age of DJs for every hole-in-the-wall pub, or live music 7 ights a week (whether you want it or not), it's nice to find a pub that's not rushing around trying to ruin a good thing. -
Review from Annie L.
13/8/2009 1 photo
I have a bunch of Dublin mates that live in Glasnevin and they seem to get a nose bleed anytime I suggest meeting in the city centre for a jar or three. They love this part of Dublin and I can't fault them, it's a great spot in North Dublin.
So it was one of their birthdays last Sunday and we headed to Kavanaghs. Trust some local boys to take me to this local spot. Walked in through some swing doors which was fun and brought out the cowgirl in me. It's a very basic no frills pub, which is something I really appreciate as it lends itself to a cosy intimacy.
The lads told me that locally it goes by the name of The Gravediggers. The reason being the gravediggers from the graveyard that is just down the road from it used to stick their shovels in through the window so that the bartender could put some pints of the black stuff on it and they would pull it back out and enjoy. It reminded me of the money collection box that some Catholic churches use. It all adds to the character of the place, having said that leave the shovels at home folks. -
Review from Barry M.
Dublin
6/1/2010
This used to be the regular watering hole when I was studying in the Botanic Gardens. This establishment is slightly of the beaten track as opposed to Smyths or the Botanic house but it will put a thirst on you. Conveniently there was a side passage that runs from the back of the Botanic Gardens to the Gravediggers which was used religiously (sorry folks for staff members only :). This is a great pub to drop into for a bit of lunch if you find yourself in the surroundings of the National Botanic Gardens and for pub-grub the food is top-notch. Many a lecture was missed on a Friday afternoon when we would go in for lunch and find ourselves organising our night out in town over dinner and a pint-a-porter. Although this pub may not be to everyones taste, its definitely worth a visit...
Listed in: Proper Dublin Pubs!!!
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Review from Dave E.
Dublin
7/3/2010
The diggers during the day offers a wonderful yet simple lunch in the lounge, which is modern so is totally in contrast to the pub itself. Tapas and paninis for example are not offerings you would expect to be treated to inside. The food is also magnificent, as is the pint; the price is just as good too!
I want to lie to you about the way currently feel about the place, my anger is not caused by the diggers, the service or the price; it is in fact related to the cliental. The place is becoming the centre of the world for that up-their-own-arse-creep population, people more interested in consuming the idea of the pub from a book than what it has to offer in the real, like visiting a new country and only going where the tourist books tell you.
The cliental on a weekend night in the bar is turning more Jean Paul Sartre type than Charles Bukowski type (i.e. Half pint drinkers in ironed jeans who wouldn't know a coddle from a cobble). The salt of the earth feeling is leaving the bar; the bar is being invaded by the west Brit type, losing their Guinness virginity here because they heard it's the best pint in town and "digging" the ancient feel and truth the digger has, yet ask where the TV is, and why there is no a la carte. This is not the point of the diggers, its old school and brilliant, where the rule that "change is the only constant" does not exist. Let me attempt to explain (I'll fail)
The diggers is an authentic Dublin pub, yes it has it's history, and place in culture (nothing wrong with all that) and indeed is a monument to the working class of Dublin, especially the area, evident in the local modest town homes that shield the pub, which are now price inflated to unbelief because Dublin has left this essential pub behind. But celebrate these things on a Monday afternoon and not a weekend night if that's all your interested in from a visit to the Gravediggers. This pub is meant to be social and Guinness Mecca, not a museum or point of interest. Just because the place has its cameo in Ulysses doesn't mean you need to over complicate the pub, it's been celebrated through the years enough and has its place in folklore by now. So instead go for the wonderful, warm, creamy chocolaty pint, and the company, the 'oulfellas at the bar will talk the ears off you, far better than any guide ever could if you them half a chance, and trust me, you will consume so much more of the place that way! -
Review from Donna M.
25/10/2010 1 Check-in Here
I stopped in for one pint of Guinness after a walk around the Botanic Garden and Glasnevin Cemetary...ended up staying for four. Great company and conversation. Not to mention the amazing history.
