Sean’s Bar is a pub in Athlone, Ireland, notable for its success in perpetuating claims of its being established around AD 900, which would make it the oldest bar in Ireland and possibly all of Europe. In actuality, architects and historians suggest that the lower two floors of the building were constructed between 1600 and 1725.

Claims of age

Claims of exceptional age may have begun with a 1970s renovation during which wattle and wicker were found in the walls. These materials were reportedly dated by the National Museum of Ireland to the tenth century. Antique coins of an unspecified age, since moved to the museum, were also discovered in the building.

News reports from 2015 suggested that the National Museum was investigating the pub owners’ claim that it has been operating since AD 900, while other archaeological surveys indicate that the oldest parts of the building in which Sean’s Bar operates were constructed in or around the 17th century (with the more ancient materials perhaps having being scavenged and reused).

Some travel guides state that Guinness World Records certified Sean’s Bar as the oldest pub in Europe, but the certificate on display in the bar states only that Sean’s Bar is the oldest public house in Ireland and does not support a specific date of establishment. 

The proprietors have claimed to possess a list of previous owners going back centuries, potentially to Luan, the innkeeper after whom the town is named, but the existence and veracity of this list is unverified.