Kilkenny, Ireland

Closed 2020

Kilkenny lost a true gentleman in Benji Lawlor. Anon

Back where it belongs.
The lights faded.
The laughter quietened.
The glasses stopped clinking and for a while, the stories were just memories whispered through closed doors.
But time has a way of bringing life back to the places that mean the most.
The sound of conversation, the hum of music, the glow of light spilling onto the street it’s all coming back.
What was once still is stirring again.
A familiar warmth. A new beginning. Anon.

The Tholsel was a bar located at the Parade end of Kilkenny’s High Street. Named after Kilkenny’s Tholsel building, the Tholsel Bar was almost as famous as its owner, the late Brendan ‘Benji’ Lawlor. Mr Lawlor, who was indelibly linked with Kilkenny Rugby Club, passed away in July 2020. The former ‘Rugby Pub’ of Kilkenny has been sold and the new owners just sent me the poem above to let me know that they are planning on reopening it. The painting is based on an uncredited photograph.

No. 265