18. The Townsman

Slightly below street level, snugly ensconced behind railings, in Shipquay Street sits a modest little Edwardian pub, The Townsman.

Well, what’s so extraordinary about that, you may wonder.

Only this, that if you wanted a night out at one of the largest, trendiest, state of the art disco complexes in Ireland, it’s through this unassuming little entrance you would go, in an electronic, neon-lit, audio-visual disco-dynamic Alphaville.

The sheer size of the place is staggering, not to mention the bewildering array of speakers, spotlights, video screens and lighting effects. There seem to be bars everywhere, petal neons, luminous colours, modernistic designs and a deep balcony area surrounding the dance floor and smothered in hi-tech tables and chairs.

You can hardly believe that all this psychedelia is controlled by one DJ, but such is the case.
The Townsman is, in many ways, typical of the Derry pub scene: a combination of the modest and discreet with all that is most sophisticated, glitzy and go-go. Technical wizardry and electronic gadgetry co-exist effortlessly with the conventional bentwood chairs and stained glass partitions of the cosy front bar.

The generation gap in Derry is no wider than the one step which takes you from The Townsman bar into The Townsman disco bar.

Whatever your age, take a look into this discoland, one of the entertainment wonders of the north-west.