Loughrey’s

After leaving another pub (mental) in Tullamore, myself and my wife went searching for somewhere a little more quiet to have a drink before going to bed.
I was rather speechless when I walked in to Loughrey’s because inside is all modern with good low volume music playing. There is a night club (entrance around the corner) if that is your thing but the bar itself is perfect for a chat even on a Saturday night.
There are even a few decent beers available and I was glad to have some Paulaner on tap. They also had the new Smirnoff € 5 mojito machine.
If you get hungry there is a Thai restaurant right in the pub!
We both loved it.

When I went to Tullamore recently, I have to admit that my expectations were not terribly high. Tullamore was not where we had intended going to at all, but we had cycled an extremely circuitous route from Dublin, it was almost getting dark and Tullamore was the only town on the map of any size within about 15 miles, so we landed up there at about half eight last Thursday without any fore-​knowledge of the place.
I had made a booking with Loughney’s only minutes before on the road from Kilbeggan, and I was seeking any sort of B&B-type place to lay the head for the night. All the other B&Bs were full (this happened to be the week of the Tullamore Show), and Loughrey’s was € 35 per night per person, so I wasn’t in any position to argue.
It emerged that Loughrey’s was a guesthouse rather than a B&B, and it was nicer than a lot of hotels that I have stayed in. The rooms were nice and clean, tea and coffee making facilities, spacious bathroom, individual bath-​mats — really nice.
The bar downstairs seemed pretty quiet, but then again this was very early on a Thursday evening, so maybe it picks up later in the night. The staff were pretty helpful, arranging a place for us to lock-​up our bikes and all that. There is a nightclub at the back but it only opens at the weekend, so we were unable to experience it’s undoubtedly manifold delights. We had to go elsewhere for our nocturnal entertainment (of which more later).
The one thing about the otherwise lovely accomodation in Loughrey’s is that the pub is on the main street, so there are loads of trucks thundering past all morning, and also the place is always roasting, the corridors and everything. Still, if you go to bed fluthered (as we all did) you should be alright.
When we descended the next day to get our complementary breakfast (served til half past eleven for those of you that are interested), we experienced the low point of our stay at Loughrey’s. There was only one waitress, and she took an awful long time to bring us our cooked breakfasts. And she only brought us our tea ages after the fries, by which time we were all thoroughly thirsty and irritable. And our toast was brought over by a cleaning lady, who seemed to have been press-​ganged into serving duties by the harried waitress, and who didn’t seem to comprehend our requests for butter, which arrived even later still. Plus, I had to ask on three separate occasions for a glass of water. I mean, jeez louise!
Still, breakfast aside, Loughrey’s is a pleasant and inexpensive place to stay if you visit the surprisingly enjoyable town of Tullamore.