History
The Dan O’connell is a quality boozer situated in sunny Carlton. It is as historically significant as the exhibition buildings and has twice the granduer.
From it’s solid granite bar to it’s genuine pleather upholstery, The Dan O’Connell has been serving the fine people of Melbourne grog since settlers first arrived in 1884. Unfortunately the settlers had arrived 100 years too early to see Status Qou perform “Marguerita time” under the alias of Guzzler. As they had a century to kill, they decided to add a few changes. The turrett was installed on the top of the pub so that the revvelers could be notified in advance about Status Quo’s arrival, and Alexandra Parade was constructed so that there could be a tickertape parade all the way from Punt Rd. which at the time was a large channel used for transporting leeches to suburban doctors. Other notable features that were installed included a floor, electric lighting, remote controlled television and, eventually, carpet and a beer garden.
Some compare The Dan O’Connell to Antoni GaudÃ’s unfinished masterpiece, the Sagrada FamÃlia, and as the original plans are kept in a sealed vault in the Vatican, only a handfull of people know what the original vision for the Dan looked like. There has been heated debate for years about the layout of the bar with some criticising the current ‘L’ shape, saying we should ressurect the traditional Catholic horseshoe bar.
The real breakthrough for the Dan O’Connell was the 1955 purchase of a champion greyhound called “my doodah”. Raised entirely on a diet of Guinness and left over parmas, “my doodah” went on to win countless races culminating in the “Winfield Blue” cup, the crowning glory for any greyhound breeder. unfortunately My Doodah was retired at the age of 6 and gained a significant amount of weight due to the nature of his diet. He suffered from a massive coronary on the eve of his 9th birthday, and the entire of Melbourne was shut down for a three day period of mourning. the fruits of My Doodah’s success included the construction of the band room and the installation of flushing toilets and fluorescent lighting.
