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Brendan Gleeson’s documentary about legendary pub is airing on TV tonight

Published 17:03 29 Jul 2025 BST

Updated 18:01 29 Jul 2025 BST

Stephen Porzio

Brendan Gleeson’s documentary about legendary pub is airing on TV tonight

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The beloved pub closed its doors in 2021.

A documentary about a legendary pub produced by and starring Oscar-nominated Irish actor Brendan Gleeson is airing on TV tonight (Tuesday, 28 July).

Titled Brendan Gleeson’s Farewell to Hughes’s, the film is about Hughes's, the Irish bar that was located behind the Four Courts in Smithfield, Dublin. For decades, the venue served as a hub for traditional music before it closed its doors in 2021.

The documentary details how, in January 2022, Gleeson - a fiddle player and former regular of the pub - met with musicians, dancers and singers in and around the bar and gathered them one last time to "recreate the magic of Hughes’s".

The plot synopsis for the documentary states:

"To some it was an unassuming pub on a side street in Dublin's city centre. To musicians, dancers, singers and listeners, Hughes's was a mecca of traditional music for more than 35 years.
"After it closes its doors for the final time, actor Brendan Gleeson returns to it to commemorate its invaluable legacy. In the midst of the current musical renaissance, this documentary celebrates the passionate and earnest story of an Irish cultural nucleus."

Brendan Gleeson’s Farewell to Hughes’s had its world premiere in March 2024 as part of the Dublin International Film Festival.

And now the documentary will also be airing on Sky Arts on Tuesday, 28 July at 10.15pm.

The hour-long film is also currently streaming on the service NOW.

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