Grace Neill’s

The following extract is taken from an article by David Brandon and Alan Brooke which was published in The Guardian on 31 October 2009. ‘Grace Neill’s at Donaghadee, County Down, opened for business in 1611 and is the oldest inn in Ireland. For most of its life it was known as the King’s Arms, but it takes its present name from a long-standing and characterful landlady. She died in 1916 but no one is sure whether she actually left. Glasses and other items are propelled around the bar by invisible hands, footsteps are heard upstairs when no one is there to make them and, very occasionally, the indistinct figure of a Victorian lady is seen.’

According to the Belfast Telegraph (07/07/2015) ‘It got its eponymous name after Grace Neill, a well-known resident of the seaside town, was given the bar as a wedding present by her father in keeping with traditions at the time. Grace was a regular fixture at the bar until she died at the age of 98 in 1918. The pub was then renamed in her honour and has carried her name ever since.’