In America, the question of whether a certain establishment is the oldest of its kind is fairly straightforward. Relative to the rest of the world, we're quite a young country, and written records, while imperfect, can usually date the opening of a business to a given year. We know, for instance, that Fraunces Tavern is the oldest restaurant in New York — records exist of its opening in 1762, and there are no currently operating restaurants in the state that date back further than that.
But in Europe, it's more complicated. . Not only are written records harder to come by the further back in time we go, but we eventually run into the Ship of Theseus problem.
How much of an old building must survive in order for it to count as the same building? On top of that, plenty of pubs, including , have cooked up backstories and histories to rake in cash from tourists who want to see a little piece of history. But Sean's Bar is the one with the most straightforward claim to the title. Sean's Bar opened in 900 A.
D. Located a few miles south-southeast of Ireland's geographic center, the town of Athlone's Gaelic name translates to "the town of Luan's ford," referring to its former status as a strategically important place to cross the River Shannon. Near that crossing — "the Great Ford" — a man by the name of Luain Mac Luighdeach, or Luain son of Lewy, established a pub in the year 900 A.
D. It exists to this day as Sean's Bar. .
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