Killarney's Pig's Lane is Ireland's Bar of the Year

Pig's Lane in Killarney was named Ireland's Bar of the Year at the 2026 awards in Dublin on Monday night, and it went up three times: the overall title, gold for Cocktail Bar of the Year, and gold for Best Designed Bar. The judges called it "unmatched excellence across the board".

It is an underground cocktail bar and whiskey parlour on College Street, opened in 2023 by Gemma Ring and run as part of the family-owned O'Donoghue Ring Collection. It has been climbing the same list for three years: Innovative Bar of the Year in 2024, Best Designed Bar in 2025, the top prize now. The name is much older than the bar. Pig's Lane was what they called the lane between College Street and Railway Road in the 1800s.

If you want to eat there rather than just drink, there is one night worth planning around. On Friday 11 September the bar hands its kitchen to Solas of Dingle, which holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand, for a one-off menu of tapas paired course by course with cocktails. Nicky and Ann Foley are cooking devilled hen's egg with smoked trout caviar, Queen scallop ceviche, Annascaul pork belly and a white chocolate and cardamom dessert, much of it from their own organic produce. Sittings start at 7pm and tickets are 85 euro per person.

For anyone driving the loop this matters mostly as a where-to-eat answer. Killarney is where most people spend the night at one end of the Ring or the other, the choice on a wet evening is wide and not always obvious, and this is now the most decorated bar in the town.