30 Caledonia Road, Gorbals, Glasgow. Demolished.
Blarney Stone. 1991.
It was sad to see this old favourite Gorbals haunt demolished. A new housing development now occupies the site. The Blarney Stone sat at the corner of Caledonia Road and Thistle Street.
This old pub dated back to 1863 when William Ross occupied the premises until the beginning of the 1870s, William also had a pub in John Street. Mrs Paul took over the licence for a few years before William Thomson took over.
Mr Thomson also ran pubs in Thistle Street, Crown Street, London Road, Crownpoint Road. William resided at Hutcheson Square before moving to Langside.
Sam Service took over the business in 1903 until 1930s, Frederick Seils then took over the pub, he had other establishments in Stockwell Street. The Seil’s had the Blarney Stone for over forty years.
The Blarney Stone with flats above date unknown.
The Blarney Stone had a name change when Augustine (Gus) Seils owned the pub, it changed to “The Gweedore Arms” and was changed back to the Blarney Stone as the locals still called the it Seils and the Blarney Stone. This happened to many pubs in Glasgow, when someone comes up with an idea to change the name of a pub and the locals will still call it by the old name. So all you publican’s out there think very hard before you change the name of your pub.
Thanks to Norrie Mcnamee for this old photograph of the Blarney Stone.
Blarney Stone. 1980s.
Thanks to Willy Devlin for the following email…
I remember the Blarney Stone as the pub my dad always went to every
night. Willie Devlin was his name and he was part of the pub and its
folklore! He helped repair or upgrade parts of the interior along the
way as he was a joiner to trade. We went there as a family 7 brothers an
sisters on occasion and there was always a face you knew and spoke too
and had a laugh! Famous for its pictures of Paul McStay and the Pope
behind the bar it was obvious where its leanings were but I never saw
any trouble in all the years I went. I used to pass it when I was a
young boy and remember there used to be a guy selling papers just around
from it…a guy with a limp!….I remember the day they decided to lay a
new carpet!.OMG it was purples and oranges and I’m sure there were many a
sore heads blamed on the vibrant colours! I was there on the last day
when it closed with my mum, dad, brothers and Wife and it was a sad but
enjoyable evening. we ended the night by going into the chippy next door
for chips and fritters!.an the short walk home to Oregon Place where my
mum an dad still live….. Its a bar that is forever missed but will be
remembered as it was part of my life and part of my family.
Hope this is ok and you can drop it into your site…well don’t by the
way…the whole place brings back memories of Glasgow!
In the NEWS 1977…
The Blarney Stone has been in the same family for 45 years. 1977. To read more on this article from 1977 click here.
Do you remember this old Pub? If so please leave a comment.
END.