About us

The Vic is over 200 years old and as such is steeped in history. Victoria House was established in 1818 as a Coach Stop/Lodging House and was a result of a general upturn in the town’s fortunes at this time. Bartholomew Rivers, an early patron of the town, who had identified the tourist potential of the shoreline and so had started to develop facilities to attract the burgeoning tourist trade. The present day façade is believed to have been constructed c.1870 and it is thought that at this juncture in time the building changed to a public house. We have recently brought the building’s original architecture back to the fore after years of neglect and layers of resin and paint. We will never paint it again so the original details can continue to shine.

The keg chute was the entrance to the stables situated where the beer garden is today. The Loft upstairs was used as lodgings.

As was common practice at the time, timber from Shipwrecks was used in local construction. During earlier renovations it was discovered that a prow of a ship was used to form an entrance to the stables. This prow is now on display within and is, allegedly from the ill-fated Seahorse, which sank in Tramore Bay in 1816 with the loss of 363 lives. The transport ship was bringing soldiers and civilians home from the Napoleonic wars when it foundered in a storm and sank in Tramore Bay. It remains one of Ireland’s worst maritime disasters.  It heralded the building of the five pillars on both sides of the bay and the arrival of The Metal Man to help identify Tramore bay to unsuspecting sea farers.  To read more on this terrible tale, click here.  

Recent history involved converting the pub from a small, but perfectly formed, smoke filled bar run by Pauline Hendry, to an iconic music and laughter filled premises run by Paul Jackman and Martin Murphy. The map of the World on the Vic’s Logo is a nod to the multitudes who worked here over the years and are now scattered to the winds.  They had the vision to transform the building and give it its unique identity.  We would hope to retain this ethos and continue to think a little outside the box.