Railway Tavern proprietor Paul Barlow Moore with the Best Local Pub in the North East and Best Drogheda Pub awards. Photo: Andy Spearman.

Barlow’s Railway Tavern on the Dublin Road in Drogheda has won the “Best Local Pub” award in the North East region of the Irish Pub Awards for 2018.

The announcement was made at the regional awards night held in Monaghan town on Thursday last at which some of the finest pubs in the North East area representing Counties Louth, Monaghan, Cavan, Donegal, Longford and Westmeath battled it out for awards in nine categories.

All nine winners will now go forward to the final of the National Pub Awards at the RDS Concert Hall in Dublin 4 on Wednesday 21st November when the National Category Winners and the overall Irish Pub of the Year will be announced.

Railway Tavern owner Barlow Moore told Drogheda Life this afternoon that he was delighted to have been selected to represent the North East Region ion the finals. He has been pulling pints at the Railway Tavern for 18 years and has built up a large and loyal regular clientele which he says covers a wide range of the community “from labourers to bishops!”

Barlow puts his success down to the personal service and warm welcome att he popular pub, on cold days and nights the seats beside the open fire are in great demand.

Walking into the Railway Tavern is like entering a museum with numerous photographs of Drogheda’s sporting heroes and other memorabilia on the wall. “Sometimes people walk in and they get so engrossed in looking at the photos that it takes them 15 or 20 minutes to order a drink!” Barlow said.

When visitors do get to the bar to order they have a huge selection to choose from – Barlow stocks almost 200 brands of whiskey and 60 types of gin.

Barlow will find it hard to find a space on the pub walls for the certificate he was awarded but is not going to hang it just yet as the organisers printed "Dundalk" instead of "Drogheda" on the citation.

"I explanied to them that that was a definite no, no" Barlow said. "It's be like printing Rangers instead of Celtic!" he joked.

When the error is put right the certificate will be put beside the Drogheda Pub of the Year award that The Railway Tavern won in the 2017 Drogheda Business Excellence Awards and the Irish American Whiskey Pub of the Year Award he won last year. 

The Railway Tavern is a favourite with sports fans with all of the big rugby, soccer and golf fixtures shown on the numerous screens whilst in Saturday and Sunday nights it’s music all the way with hits from the 60’s through to the 80’s.

The full list of winners in the North East Region is as follows:

• Innovative Pub of the Year sponsored by Bank of Ireland Payment Acceptance:  Glencar Inn.
• Glencar SC, Circular Road, Letterkenny, Co Donegal.
• Best Music Pub sponsored by IMRO: The Warehouse Bar & Kitchen, Upper Main Street, Letterkenny, Co Donegal.
• Best Tourist Pub sponsored by Molson Coors: The Singing Pub, Atlantic Drive, Downings, Co Donegal.
• Best Outdoor Space sponsored by Bulmers: The Neptune, Main Street, Blackrock, Dundalk, Co Louth.
• Outstanding Customer Service sponsored by Heineken: PJ O’Hare’s, The Anchor Bar, Carlingford, Cooley Peninsula, Co Louth.
• Best Local Pub sponsored by Diageo: Barlow’s Railway Tavern, Dublin Road, Drogheda, Co Louth.
• Best Newcomer sponsored by Hennessy: Sister Sara’s, Port Road; Gortlea, Letterkenny, Co Donegal.
• Best Food sponsored by Musgrave MarketPlace: The Glyde Inn, Main Street, Annagassan, Castlebellingham, Co Louth.
• Pub Personality of the Year sponsored by Irish Distillers, Pernod Ricard: Bryan McKiernan, The Keepers Arms, Bridge Street, Bawnboy, Ballyconnell, Co Cavan.

The Irish Pub Awards are jointly presented by the Vintners Federation of Ireland (VFI) and the Licenced Vintners Association of Ireland (LVA).  A series of seven regional events take place around Ireland between 11th September and 11th October to announce 63 finalists throughout seven regions.

This article was written by Andy Spearman