![\"Proprietors](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/5227411_3_articleinline_Copy_20of_204_20-0998.jpg\" "\\"Proprietors")
Proprietors of The Ensign Bar in Monkstown, brothers Dan and Gavin Boland, who have run the place for 13 years.\tPicture: Noel Sweeney<\/p>\nThe Boland brothers – Gavin and Daniel – have been running The Ensign Bar in Monkstown for 13 years.<\/p>\n
Being brothers, I wonder if they ever butt heads?!<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople often ask what it\u2019s like having two brothers running a pub together,\u201d says Gavin. \u201cI normally tell them we\u2019re both still speaking – and more importantly, still alive! After 13 years that is probably our greatest achievement!<\/p>\n
Brothers will be brothers.<\/p>\n
\u201cLike any brothers, we don\u2019t always agree,\u201d says Gavin. \u201cBut luckily there is usually a bar between us!\u201d<\/p>\n
The Ensign has more than one use locally.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the years, we\u2019ve also realised that The Ensign isn\u2019t just a pub,\u201d says Gavin.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomewhere along the line we seem to have become the unofficial Monkstown information centre!\u201d<\/p>\n
What do Gavin and Daniel get asked?<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been asked everything from directions and taxi numbers to ferry times, where to get a good dinner, who owns a certain house, and probably the full life history of half the village!\u201d<\/p>\n
Do they always know the answers?<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we don\u2019t know the answer, there\u2019s normally someone sitting at the bar who does,\u201d says Gavin.<\/p>\n
\u201cOr the very least, someone who is sufficiently confident in their answer that you\u2019d never know the difference!\u201d<\/p>\n
And then, of course, there\u2019s the sport chat in the bar.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the years, an extraordinary number of matches have been won and lost from the bar stools of The Ensign,\u201d says Gavin.<\/p>\n
\u201cManagers have been sacked, teams have been picked, substitutions made, and tactics completely reorganised-all without anyone having to leave the comfort of their stool.\u201d<\/p>\n
The pub pundits are professionals.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of the post-match analysis would put the sports\u2019 pundits to shame,\u201d says Gavin.<\/p>\n
Proprietors of The Ensign Bar in Monkstown, brothers Dan and Gavin Boland, who have run the place for 13 years.\tPicture: Noel Sweeney<\/p>\n
\u201cThe only difference is, our panel of experts generally have a pint in front of them and absolutely no intention of agreeing with one another.\u201d<\/p>\n
More lofty discussions about world affairs can happen over a pint too.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver 13 years behind the bar, I\u2019ve learned that there are very few problems in the world that can\u2019t at least be discussed over a pint,\u201d says Gavin.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhether they actually get solved is another matter entirely!\u201d<\/p>\n
Gavin, a good listener, often takes good advice on board.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne bit of advice that has always stayed with me came from the late Brian Isherwood, a local man who had moved to the area from England many years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gavin fills me in about Brian.<\/p>\n
\u201cBrian was a very witty man, and a great character,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\n
\u201cBrian told me, \u2018My old boy, working behind the bar is like being a priest. You hear everything and say nothing!\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cHe also told me that working behind the bar would be one of the best forms of education that you could ever get.\u201d<\/p>\n
Was he right?<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter 13 years doing it; boy, he was right!\u201d<\/p>\n
Gavin seems to really enjoy his role as proprietor.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou meet every type of person, from every walk of life,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou hear every story imaginable, the good, the bad, the funny, and occasionally, the unbelievable!<\/p>\n
\u201cYou learn to talk to people. But more importantly, you learn how to listen to them.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd just like Brian said, you quickly learn that some of the things you hear are best left exactly where you heard them – at the bar!\u201d<\/p>\n
Gavin and Daniel are lucky to have an Irish mammy helping them in the bar.<\/p>\n
\u201cI used to come in to do the cleaning in the morning, and I got persuaded to go behind the bar and pull pints!\u201d says Cecilia.<\/p>\n
\u201cI only live five doors down the street, so no commuting!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe keeps an eye on us!\u201d says Gavin.<\/p>\n
\u201cMam has helped us out a huge amount over the years, and she is always there when needed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n \u201cLike most Irish mothers, Cecilia has a great ability to help out while making sure myself and Daniel know exactly what we should be doing.\n <\/p>\n
\u201cHer help and support over the years has meant a lot to us both and to The Ensign.\u201d<\/p>\n
Being a publican in modern times can be a tough task.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnyone who has worked in a busy pub knows it is not always the easiest job in the world,\u201d admits Gavin.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are long days, long nights, busy weekends and plenty of characters to deal with.<\/p>\n
![\"Gavin](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/5227417_3_articleinline_Copy_20of_204_20-0997.jpg\" "\\"Gavin")
Gavin and Dan Boland with mum Cecelia in The Ensign Bar in Monkstown. Gavin met his wife Claudia in the bar one night when he was working. Picture: Noel Sweeney<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have been very lucky with the people who worked with us over the years. They\u2019ve been a huge part of The Ensign, and a huge part of the atmosphere in the pub.<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel and I certainly couldn\u2019t have done without them.\u201d<\/p>\n
They all make for a good team.<\/p>\n
\u201cBetween ourselves, our mum, and the staff, we\u2019ve poured a fair few pints, heard a fair few stories, and we\u2019ve solved most of the world\u2019s problems over the last 13 years,\u201d says Gavin.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately, nobody outside The Ensign seems to have taken much notice of our solutions!\u201d<\/p>\n
Gavin took notice of someone special who came into The Ensign one day<\/p>\n
\u201cClaudia was house-sharing locally at the time,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne night she came down to The Ensign with her housemates for a few drinks.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnbeknownst to her, Sheila\u2019s 50th birthday was in full swing that night.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gavin vividly remembers that night.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had finished work after a long day, and I had promised myself I\u2019d have one pint and go home\u201d says Gavin.<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t to be.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnyone who has spent any time in a pub will know, very few great stories have ever started with \u2018just the one\u2019.<\/p>\n
Gavin took a swallow of \u2018just the one\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen I spotted Claudia!\u201d says Gavin.<\/p>\n
\u201cSuddenly, going home didn\u2019t seem quite so urgent.<\/p>\n
\n \u201cI finished my pint, went home, had a shower and a shave, found the best clothes I could lay my hands on, and headed straight back over to The Ensign.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
He looked the part then.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, there I was, freshly showered, freshly shaven and back in the pub looking like a new man.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was only one problem,\u201d says Gavin. \u201cI still hadn\u2019t the courage to speak to her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Patrons of The Ensign are experts at solving problems of the heart, as well as problems of the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cThankfully, Fiona Browne, who was at Sheila\u2019s party, came out into the beer garden, took one look at me, and immediately knew what was going on,\u201d says Gavin.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe said, \u2018I know why you\u2019re back here.\u2019<\/p>\n
Gavin came clean.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt that stage there wasn\u2019t much use denying it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cFiona offered to go in and get Claudia to come outside. Thankfully, she did, because left to my own devices, I\u2019d probably have had another three pints for Dutch courage and still be sitting in the beer garden trying to work out an opening line.\u201d<\/p>\n
The problem was solved.<\/p>\n
\u201cFiona brought Claudia out. We got chatting, and the rest, as they say, is history.\u201d<\/p>\n
And baby made three.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d nearly prefer a night shift in here than doing the night shift at home!\u201d laughs Gavin.<\/p>\n
Love conquers all.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, I actually met my wife Claudia, here at The Ensign,\u201d says Gavin.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo apart from everything else the pub has given me over the past 13 years, it also managed to find me a wife – although I\u2019m not sure that was included in the original business plan!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Boland brothers – Gavin and Daniel – have been running The Ensign Bar in Monkstown for 13…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":625360,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[72,129703,61,60,10414],"class_list":["post-625359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-cork-harbour","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-pub"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/625359","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=625359"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/625359\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/625360"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=625359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=625359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=625359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}