COCK O’ THE WALK : IRISH PUB OF THE WEEK 511: The Cock Tavern, Euston
**For forthcoming Irish Pubs of the week, see https://www.instagram.com/publicanenemy/)
Shoreditch. Stoke Newington . Hackney. Clapton. Fleet Street. Soho. Peckham. Recently , I’ve been on a run of fancy dan Irish Pubs in the more salubrious quarters of London. But the fabric of Irish pubs is a rich tapestry and in order to weave it truthfully we must take the rough with the smooth. Warts an all! Biodynamic Orange wines alongside sambuccas and pints of Carling. So what of the lesser spotted….spots?
A cursory Google search suggests that in Zone 1, down an alley next to an underutilized thoroughfare, just off the commuting node of Euston, famously home of nothing in particular, lies The Cock Tavern. I had never heard of this one even after 20 years of London living, nor have I ever met anyone who had frequented it.
The Cock is what is commonly referred to as a P r o p e r B o o z e r, and everything that entails. Pool tables. Dart boards. Telly showing the Gee Gees. Though this spot may be next to the British Library, one of the greatest centers of learning and knowledge in human history, let it not be said that one cannot learn a lot about the world by sitting in pubs like The Cock. I have recorded some of the wisdom overheard to share here:
“I don’t have imposter syndrome, because I actually KNOW I’m not good enough” –
Man A; “You have to learn Chemistry!! Everything in life is Chemistry!! You drinking that beer is Chemistry!!” –
Man B; “That’s not chemistry, that’s biology” – Man C; “Wouldn’t that be more biochemistry?”
The Cock really likes Celtic and the Basque Nationalism and really dislikes Fascism.Politically, its slightly to the left of Ho Chi Minh . Who could disagree with that? Tis rough n’ ready, with its shrine to the aforementioned Celtic and its £4.50 pint in Zone 1. It’s resisted all the redevelopment around the Kings Cross area resolutely,a bit like of those grannies who refuse to sell their house to the evil property developers so they build all around her anyways, and as a local independent pub, it’s preferable to a million soulless Wetherspoonses, or even the ubiquitous creeping dread of the nearby O’Neills. My brother worked in that same O ‘Neills in Kings X, permanently baffled by men ordering Lager Tops and people asking him if he made bombs because he was from “Southern Ireland”.
So, like a reluctant bi-sexual, I can’t say I love The Cock, but it was an interesting experience.
KERRYMAN ATTEMPTS TO VISIT EVERY IRISH PUB ON EARTH : Psycho-geography, Anthropology, Pints. 
Judging by the decor, I think we can safely presume that the owner is probably from the North, either that or Donegal!
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With a three hour wait at Euston, I decided on a walking tour around the area and found the Cock Tavern. Not many pubs in London like this any more, and many would say ‘thank god for that’. But it was frequented by old school geezers, people with proper cockerney accents, and it was an eye opener. Give it a go, but don’t expect any of that fancy hand pulled bitter, it don’t do that!
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