The Hi-B is back: Cork's smallest bar reopens after two years — and phones are still banned

The beloved first-floor establishment on Oliver Plunkett St has a few new additions, but house rules are still very much in force

Ryan Tubridy pulls his own pint during a visit to the Hi-B bar, Cork. Doors are back open on Thursday.

The Hibernian Bar, better known to Corkonians as the Hi-B, will reopen to the public on Thursday, February 10 at 4pm, after a two-year hiatus necessitated by the Covid crisis.

In a well-received statement posted on Facebook, the bar, renowned for being the smallest in the city, shared news of the reopening, as well as word of some changes. 

"Credit card facilities, wine and prosecco by the bottle, and good coffee," say the bar's proprietors in the post.

The entrance to the Hi-B first-floor bar on Oliver Plunkett St Cork. Picture: Billy MacGill.

However, the bar's rules are still in effect — mobile phones have been banned from their outset in favour of conversation, with the exception of using their newly added facilities for payment services like Google Pay.

"Still no mobile phones (except to pay), good conversation and great music," according to the post.

First opened in the 1860s, the bar is held in the city's public imagination alongside the memory of its late landlord and Leeside character, Brian O'Donnell. 

• The Hi-B reopens on Oliver Plunkett St, Cork, at 4pm on Thursday.