50. The Strawberry Bar (Devlin’s)

If it’s ever decided to form an organisation called Gamblers Unanimous, then its headquarters should be The Strawberry Inn on Lower Eighth Street, Armagh. At one time there were four stables at the back of the bar, the site of the present lounge, and it seems that the connection with horses has been maintained, aided, and “abetted” by the bookie’s shop next door because this is a horsey bar in every sense.

You’ll see in the hallway a fine painting of Lester Pigott and his eight Derby winners. (Can you name them? Answer at end.) Punters tend to meet in here to drown the sorrow of their losses, or to drink to the health of their winners.
It’s also a meeting place for greyhound owners and trainers, but there are more active sporting associations too, Armagh G.A.A. meets here, as do local soccer teams and the local Harps Club.

The present owner played for Armagh in the seventies and was in the 1977 final. The bar itself has been extensively modernised and extended. It used to be the smallest bar in the county, with a nine-foot counter, a few tiny snugs, and a maximum capacity of about twenty customers.

Today it is more like a big Dublin bar, and the generous lounge bar at the rear is cosy and away from the “roar of the crowd”. Nobody seems quite sure how it got its title of the Strawberry Bar, but if there’s a challenge put out to find the reason they’ll place their bets on the field of possible explanations.