Good Food Australia have named The Drunken Poet one of Victoria’s top five pubs for a pint on St Patrick’s Day (and beyond) – thanks so much!
When I told an Irish arborist and flute player named Sean that the Drunken Poet had been named among the best Irish pubs outside of Ireland, he was critical: “No mate. This place is better than most of the pubs at home.”
Owner Siobhan Dooley’s pub is a humble institution that hosts live music six nights a week, and reflects the understated and hard-working personality of Dooley herself: a slight, Guinness-pouring machine who seems to know every single one of her customers. Dooley says the key to pouring a good Guinness is to keep the lines clean, and to keep them flowing.
An expertly poured pint of Guinness at the Drunken Poet
Photo: Simon Schluter
Read the full article here:
The Drunken Poet are the only Australian establishment to make the 10 Best Irish Pubs in the World (outside Ireland), recognised in this year’s Lord Mayor’s Commendations for its longstanding and cheerful presence in the local community.
‘We’re a local’s pub – cosy, friendly and the Guinness is always flowing.’
The deliberate absence of a TV in the pub encourages conversations and an appreciation of music.
‘We host local and interstate artists six nights a week, including our popular weekly Wine, Whiskey, Women events and traditional Irish music sessions,’ Siobhan said.
Now that lockdown has lifted, Siobhan and her staff are delighted to welcome back their friends in person.
Read the Melbourne Magazine article here: https://magazine.melbourne.vic.gov.au/the-local-pub-where-no-ones-a-stranger/
We are open till Midnight tonight! Music from Zevon at 9pm. Come down for one last pint before lockdown!
Then hopefully see you all next Friday the 4th of June.
In response to a lot of queries re our open mic nights – we too miss them terribly. It was always varied, surprising, fun and sometimes shocking!! However, due to the continuing covid-safe restrictions, we are currently unable to host this bi-monthly event as microphones etc would need to be sanitised between every act. Rest assured though, as soon as feasibly possible, we will resume our open mic sessions. Stay tuned to our socials for updates.
YES! We have reopened and it has been so wonderful to welcome back so many of our wonderful and supportive regulars who were lucky to snag one of our very restricted spots. To make a booking, call and leave a clear message with your name, contact number and date required on 9348 9797 and we will call you back.
We are awaiting to hear re live music and will be all over it, once its legal! Hope to see you all very soon.
Support Act – The heart and hand of Australian music
Nothing beats spending your Friday night at The Poet, so for the next 4 Fridays why not join us in our Virtual Pub Trivia?
Great fun, a chance to win and a great cause! Proceeds going to Support Act – Australia’s only charity delivering crisis relief services to music artists and music workers as a result of financial hardship, ill health, injury or mental health issues.
Book now: https://bit.ly/DrunkenPoetTrivia
We miss you! We can’t wait to be back open and have you drinking a pint with us! In the meantime we are so excited to announce that we are doing our beloved ‘Tribute Tuesdays’ again!
This time live streaming on our FB!
May 19th: Suzette Herft plays the songs of Emmylou Harris
May 26th: Charles Jenkins plays the songs of Nick Lowe
June 2nd: Dean Haitani plays the songs of Paul Brady
June 9th: Rebecca Barnard plays the songs of Joni Mitchell.
You’ll be able to donate directly to support the artist by clicking the donate button on the live stream.
Grab yourself a Guinness from the fridge and welcome us into your lounge room!
(Part 4 of The Adventures of Paddy and Manuel.)
Sea spray blew in a not so fine mist across the deck of The Irish Rover as it’s bow crashed through waves as high as the mast. The two boys stood side by side gripping the rail next to Mick McCann from the banks of the Bann as he steered The Irish Rover through the teeth of a gale. He’d seen worse and this storm didn’t scare him. In fact, he was relishing every second. The sails full, the crew holding on for dear life, the horizon rising and falling in and out of sight, and every sinew in his body tingling. They’d been chasing The Flying Dutchman for a day and a half, sparing no sail and through some pretty big seas. Mick could see the edge of the storm and when he looked through his spyglass he could see the Dutchman and he’d just worked out where they were headed; Black Heart Island!
Mick kept the information to himself lest it spook the crew. He looked over at the two small boys, whom he’d almost certainly saved from a grisly end back at The Buggered Pelican, gave them a wink and pointed at the Dutchman. “We’ll have caught them up by dusk lads.” The two boys looked at the ghost ship up ahead and shivered. The prospect of reacquainting themselves with the Dutchman or Francois L’Olonnais was filling both of them with dread, but something still pulled them towards the map or was it the treasure that called to them? Neither of them knew, but whatever it was, Mick McCann and the crew of The Irish Rover were almost certainly under it’s spell as well. So intent were they on the chase, that they had failed to notice a large reef lurking in their path.
The Irish Rover ground to a halt and the sound of a splintering hull filled the air. Pandemonium ensued, but one thing became clear to all those aboard; they were going down and going down fast.
Meanwhile On Black Heart Island
The indigenous people of Black Heart Island, unsurprisingly didn’t call it Black Heart Island. To them it was home and they called it Turtle Island. They were a peaceful and loving group of people, but they took particular exception to a bunch of cutthroats digging up the turtle nesting beach. Thar really made their blood boil.
As Francois reached out to take a handful of gold dubloons, a spear pierced his chest and pinned him to the sand. (He died happy…well he was still smiling when his heart stopped and who could ask for better?) Spears rained down on the pirates and blood drenched the beach. A few pirates escaped, but they swam into the ocean and let’s face it, probably drowned. #sneakypintdoesntsugarcoat
Meanwhile Back At What Once Was The Irish Rover
Manuel had Paddy by his shirt collar and he was swimming hard. The rip was strong and Paddy was struggling. Manuel was losing strength, floundering and starting to loose his grip on Paddy. As usual, the giant turtle was just in time. Manuel grabbed the turtle and Paddy and they rose swiftly to the surface. The boys both gasped for air and their eyes, once they’d been wiped of salt water, took a while to take in the scene on the beach of Turtle Island. A group of fearsome warriors stood on a bloody beach strewn with bodies. As the boys stumbled ashore, carried by a turtle, the tribe’s deity, it was like God had just dropped off Jesus (×2) at the beach.
10 Years Later
The boys were now young men and their lives had been happy on Turtle Island, but they yearned for something more and when a ship bound for South Australia randomly stopped offshore, Paddy and Manuel hitched a ride and brought their chest with them.
*Spotify link : South Australia by The Pogues
https://open.spotify.com/album/4V92Puney9WxGPecKtLG4Lhighlight=spotify:track:0IBOsG3HJQIpLHWCsYT7tD
* Paddy and Manuel ended up in Melbourne and rumour has it that they buried the treasure somewhere in West Melbourne. José’s convinced it’s buried beneath the Guinness tap at The Drunken Poet, because he’s drawn there regularly.
*The Sneaky Pint has definitely seen a lot of pirates at The Poet, so there might be something to this theory.
DON’T SHAKE MY HAND
(Just donate to the fire appeal.)
It doesn’t come much more condescending than a politician who’s been involved in blocking action on climate change, showing up for a photo op and trying to shake hands with people who are at the forefront of fighting the effects of climate change. This week the Poet won’t be shaking hands, we’ll be putting our hands in our pockets and helping out those who have been caught in the eye of the firestorm. We’ll be running a raffle each day Tue 7th- Sun 12th, to be drawn at 10pm every night. All proceeds going to the Red Cross fire appeal.
First prize: $100 bar tab
Second prize: A bottle of Jameson whiskey.
“The Sneaky Pint has surfaced! Check it out on www.thedrunkenpoet.com.au/blog and please don’t be afraid to leave your comments or suggestions – The Sneaky Pint catches up on everyone!”
We’ll be open from 4pm on ANZAC day. Will live music from 6pm
For those of you wondering about our easter hours? We are closed only Good Friday! (19th April).
Saturday and Sunday we are open with live music from 3pm.
Have a squiz around our website to check out all of the great live music we have coming up, browse our photo gallery, or just have a gander at our fantastic drinks list. There are plenty of reviews of the pub, so go and see what other people think of The Drunken Poet. We promise you’ll love it!
The Drunken Poet also plays host to a wide range of regular events – check out the current schedule below:
Every Tuesday night – 8pm
Tuesday Tribute is one of our most popular nights at The Poet – we pair a local musician with a classic songbook – bringing you songs you love, played by people we love.
Every Wednesday: 8pm
A showcase of female singer/ songwriters.
1st & 3rd Thursdays of every month: 7pm
Poetry, Music, Comedy… All are welcome!
First in, best dressed, so come early if you want to perform! Sign ups are at the bar from 5pm.
Every Friday: 6pm
The perfect accompaniment to a Guinness and a dram….
Every Saturday from 3pm, and featuring the Kraken Music Session on the last Saturday of the month…
As well as live music every night Tuesday through to Sunday – Drunken Poet gigs are always free entry!
For up to date listings and gig info, check out our gig guide here, or visit us on Facebook here…..
