Landlords of the Irish bar in Stoke Newington Church Street served their last pint on December 28 – signing off after 32 years with the message: “It’s been a blast.”
Now, the independent pub looks set to reopen with a new name, and an historic connection to Stokey.
It looks like feminist pioneer Mary Wollstonecraft is to get a pub named after her in the area where she lived and worked in the 1780s.
Posting on Instagram the new owners teased a drawing of a black-painted pub frontage with hanging baskets, plants and benches saying: “Coming soon.”
Following the long running ‘Mary on the Green’ campaign, a statue to the trailblazing author of A Vindication of the Rights of Women was unveiled in Newington Green in 2020.
The work by Maggi Hambling controversially depicts Wollstonecraft naked.
During her time living in Stoke Newington Green she established a girls’ school near the Meeting House, joined the Dissenting congregation, and met key radical thinkers who shaped her writing on women’s rights.
She died in Somers Town, Camden in 1797 just days after giving birth to a baby who would go on to be Frankenstein creator Mary Shelley.
Now, Mary is set to be commemorated in a bar which boasts a huge hidden beer garden and is located in an historic building.
As Ryan’s it was famous for live sports, Irish-themed decor and epic pizzas but the direction of the new pub is still under wraps.
Responding to the post there was clear enthusiasm for the new name with one commenting: “Great name, great idea! Excited to come in sometime.”
While another added: “Can’t wait to help you out with some beers as awesome as the name!”
