06/13/2026
A pub in Ireland has been pouring drinks for a thousand years. Sean's Bar opened in the 900s and has never closed for long.
The pub is located in the town of Athlone, on the banks of the River Shannon. Archaeologists have dated the building's wattle and wicker walls to the ninth century. The same walls that held up the roof in the year 900 are still holding up the roof today.
Sean's Bar has served customers through Viking raids, Norman invasions, English rule, Irish independence, two world wars, and a global pandemic. The bar has been owned by dozens of families over the centuries. The current owners continue to serve beer and whiskey from the same location where their predecessors served mead and ale.
The pub has a small museum on its second floor. The museum displays coins, pottery, and other artifacts found during renovations. A visitor can drink a pint of Guinness in a room where people have been drinking for a millennium.
The oldest pub in Europe. The bar where a thousand years of history sits on the same shelf as the salt and pepper shakers. 🍺🇮🇪⏳😮
