placenamesGalloping Green
Faiche na Rás
Byrne’s pub gives Galloping Green a distinctive place in the correspondence of Brian O’Nolan, better known as Flann O’Brien.
The name
These Irish name elements are associated with this record in the Logainm glossary.
An element’s translation is a clue, rather than a complete explanation of the name. Its form and meaning depend on local history and the full Irish name.
Recorded forms
- Faiche na Rás · Irish · main form · validated name
- Galloping Green · English · main form
Place & story
A literary customer
Brian and Evelyn O’Nolan moved to Stillorgan in 1960, within walking distance of Byrne’s at Galloping Green. A surviving letter of 28 September 1962 to proprietor Gerry Byrne records the writer’s complaint that a barman rushed customers through their drinks at closing time. O’Nolan turned the place name into a joke about the speed at which they were expected to finish. [2]
Remembering Byrne’s
Scholar Thomas O’Grady knew Byrne’s as his local while living at nearby Belmont House in 1977–78. His 2022 essay recalls separate bar and lounge spaces connected by a narrow passage with a sliding panel. He also examines the story that O’Nolan was barred by letter, while stressing that the supposed barring letter appears not to survive. [2]
Geographic information
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Galloping Green. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- On Licensed Premises: Galloping Green Revisited — The Parish Review 6(2), 2022 · Thomas O’Grady
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2024-06-28. How this page was prepared.