End of era as The Dapp Inn pub in Nenagh closes

 The end of an era in the pub trade in Nenagh was marked recently when the highly popular hostelry, The Dapp Inn, closed for the last time.

Owned by the Maloney family over a span of eight decades, The Dapp was a favourite watering hole for generations of townspeople and visitors alike.

It was particularly popular with sports fans, especially members and followers of the local GAA club Éire Óg and Nenagh Ormond Rugby Club.

These sports, particularly rugby, reflected the passions of its original owner, the late Noel Maloney, who won a Munster Junior Cup medal with Nenagh Ormond in 1947.

Noel gave the premises its name when he first acquired it in the late 1940s due to his own love as an angler of dapping the Mayfly on Lough Derg in pursuit of the fine while brown trout for which the lake is famous.

It was also a great place for singsongs and was often packed with people performing and those who came to hear the tunes and the singing.

Noel, who died in the prime of his life at the age of just 52 in 1976, ran the pub with his late wife Frances (Tutsie née Talbot) for several decades.

They acquired the premises from the Flannery family who had originally run the business as a pub and a bakery.

THE POUND

Located in Pound Street, it was once the site of the old animal pound in Nenagh. Parts of the pound structure was uncovered in the premises when renovations were being carried out in the 1990s. Following Noel’s death, the pub was taken over by one of his sons, Frank, who along with his wife Susan, and occasional help of their three adult children, ran the business up to its closure last month.

An adventurous add-on to the concern was the development by Noel and Tutsie of a squash court complex which they built beside the pub in the 1970s, bringing in its own income and tempting thirsty players to visit the pub after games.

With drink driving regulations posing a grave threat to drink-only pubs, Frank and Susan began serving food in the premises in 1995 and it subsequently became one of the most popular places in the town for lunches.

With the proprietors of The Dapp now at retirement age, and none of their children interested in taking over, they sold the business earlier this year to Tipperary County Council who intend using the site for housing.

Thanking everyone who supported them over the decades, Frank Maloney said he was particularly grateful to friends, neighbours and fans and members of the local sports club who supported them all through the years.

Like the original owner Noel and that of his wife Tutsie's family, the Talbot’s, many in the family tree are still avid anglers and sport enthusiasts.

Frank and Susan’s two sons Noel and Hugh, have won many honours with Éire Óg and their daughter Maeve, a former camogie player during Duharra’s all-conquering era, is the holder of county and provincial medals.

Thankfully, the sale doesn’t mean the Maloney family are leaving Nenagh. They have been popular and contributing members of the community for many years, and long may that continue.