By 1845, the pub was radiating beneath the affluent glow of Fishbourne &Bianconi across the street, whose principal, Charles Bianconi, had the exclusive rights on all coach travel to every town south of Carlow. Within six years, amid the coaching trade boom, this old hostelry was known as the National Hotel & Tavern. A select premises in the city that provided tavern tokens for customers who availed of Bagatelle & Billiard Facilities. The winning tokens were subsequently exchanged for drink, never money.

In the 1890’s the premises underwent a spending Victorian renovation, leaving a façade that has been largely preserved to this day. Because of its cosmopolitan location beside the commercial and literary life pulse of the city, the Duke has enjoyed a distinguished association with the literary greats of the Irish Nation.

James Stephens, James Joyce, Oliver st.john Gogarty and Arthur Griffith breezed in here regularly in the early days of the century when they wanted a quiet reflective jar.

In later years, the three great literary musketeers, Brendan Behan, Patrick Kavanagh and Myles Na gCopaleen experienced a transitory love affair with the premises, although hardly ever at the same time as they were rarely enamoured with each others company for long. As a general rule, the presence of one was dictated by the absence of the other two.

Nowadays, the organisers of the Dublin Literary Pub Crawl keep the tradition alive by starting their historic pub tour from this establishment.

Today, the Duke is still renowned for providing the caller with a place of quiet respite to enjoy a peaceful drink or some heart warming food throughout the day. Traditional music can be enjoyed from 9 to 11pm on Sunday nights and our function room is available for all your needs.

We look forward to welcoming you soon.