Dublin Castle, Camden

The Dublin Castle is a pub and live music venue in Camden Town, London. It was built for Irish navvies working on railways in London, but gained prominence as a venue in the late 1970s after the band Madness established a live reputation there. Subsequently, it was an important venue in the early stages of several bands' careers and contributed to the Britpop musical genre. Amy Winehouse was a regular visitor to the pub.

Dublin Castle
View of the pub from Parkway
Location within London
General information
TypePublic house
LocationCamden Town, London, England
Coordinates51°32′14″N 0°8′44″W
Openedc. 1856[1]
Website
www.thedublincastle.com

History

The pub was built to serve workmen on the nearby railway, as part of a newly constructed group of buildings. It catered for Irish immigrants to London, in order to segregate them away from other nationalities and avoid racial-related assaults.[2] Music was originally restricted to occasional traditional Irish sessions.[3] The emergence of other venues around Camden Town, including the Roundhouse, Dingwalls and the Electric Ballroom brought an increased interest in live music to the area, including the Dublin Castle.[4] The pub can now accommodate an audience up to 200 people.[5]

Madness first attempted to secure a gig at the venue in late 1978, when they were still known as the Camden Invaders. They first performed at the venue on 16 January 1979.[6] According to singer Suggs, the group had to pretend they were a jazz band to get a booking.[7] Landlord Alo Conlon invited the group back for a residency at the venue, and helped to establish their reputation.[8]

Conlon hand picked bands to play in the pub that he thought would attract an audience, and word of mouth spread so that A&R scouts would visit the pub to see what up and coming acts were available.[8] The pub was an important venue for Britpop acts in the 1990s, as it was often the first major London gig for bands that later found commercial success, including Blur.[5] Amy Winehouse performed regularly at the venue and occasionally helped to serve drinks to customers.[9]

In 2008, Conlon received a lifetime achievement award for his services to the pub industry in Camden. He died in January 2009 aged 73. A street party was held on Parkway, with Suggs in attendance.[8]

Events

The Dublin Castle regularly hosts live music events from Wednesday to Sunday every week.

It has also long hosted a popular open jam on Tuesday nights, which has included appearances from major bands such as The Libertines.[10] After a hiatus, the open jam has been restarted as Redrock Jam as of November 2016.[11]

Redrock Jam is hosted by local band Redwire, who also hosted Redrock Festival at the same venue in October 2016[12] and again in September 2017.

References

Citations

  1. "Dublin Castle, 18 Park Street, Camden Town". UK pub history and historical Street directory. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  2. "A-Z of Camden Culture". Time Out. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  3. Reed 2011, p. 80.
  4. Reed 2011, pp. 11–12.
  5. "London". Billboard: 65. 6 November 1999. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  6. Reed 2011, p. 81.
  7. "Camden Town is the place to be for up-and-comers". Billboard: 76. 29 November 1997. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  8. Ferrier, Morwenna (27 January 2009). "Alo Conlon: A tribute to a rock'n'roll pub landlord". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  9. "The Dublin Castle – rockabilly night". Amy Winehouse Foundation. Archived from the original on 2015-01-23. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  10. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-12-20. Retrieved 2016-12-10.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. http://www.richardgregory.org.uk/music/openmic/dublin-castle.htm
  12. "News: September 30 - October 6: Hear banned songs at St Giles-In-The-Fields - Camden Review". www.camdenreview.com. Archived from the original on 2017-02-02. Retrieved 2017-01-22.

Sources

  • Reed, John (2011). House of Fun: The Story of Madness. Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-857-12715-0.
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