MAYBE it was the fact that the law library is on holidays (again!) but there was certainly a great deal of legal partying going on this week, including a very crowded opening bash at the Porter House, yet another new bar in Temple Bar. The reason for the heavy legal presence is that the new pub is owned by barrister Oliver Hughes, with partners publican Liam LaHart and architect Frank Ennis.
Liam and Oliver already own another pub in Bray and their move into town to the multi storey, purpose built premises on Parliament Street is certainly ambitious. (With the staggering number of pubs now in Temple Bar it seems likely that "the cultural quarter" soon deserve the appellation "drinking quarter").
The Porter House is admittedly a very different sort of hostelry. It not only serves beer, it brews it on the premises (see also Weekend 10). There are eight different brews including an oyster stout made with real oysters. In the restaurant area of the bar, ex Odessa man David Bagnall has put together a great sounding menu.
Judges Cyril Kelly and Paul Carney arrived, as did barristers Paul O'Neill, Maurice Collins and Adrian Mannering, Brian Murray and Mary Keane from the Law Society.