A Brief History Of The White House Bar, Limerick

The White House was established in 1812 by Caffrey Moses as a grocery and wine store. The seawards William White and Bell Hayes and his wife Miss English all contributed to the White House today. It was taken over by the Gleeson Family in 1920 and ran by Ita and her brother Eamonn, up to his retirement. Ita was the wife of the journalist Michael Fitzgibbon, editor of the Limerick Leader at the time. They both encouraged the ambiance that epitomises this oak walled and mirrored pub today. Their patrons included the actor Richard Harris, the artist Jack Donovan and the poet Desmond O'Grady. His father and his father before him, Tom Mulrooney fruit importer and raconteur and Tom Ryan the artist. There were many others; the poet Robert Graves, Jim Kemmy, Frank McCourt, Desmond O'Malley and Jack Charlton. In 2002 Barney Sheehan began the White House Poetry Revival restoring the literary tradition of this famous old world bar.