Intoxicating Moorish cool is the new look at The Algiers Inn in Baltimore 

A lockdown revamp has placed the West Cork pub in the awards' spotlight

Newly revamped The Algiers Inn in Baltimore

THERE’s an exotic ring to The Algiers Inn, a West Cork pub whose name memorialises the arrival from the Barbary coast of marauding pirates 400 years ago. Lead by a ferocious Dutchman-turned-Muslim, they made off with a couple of hundred locals and English settlers for sale into the slave trade. The name ‘The Algiers Inn’ recalls that most terrible episode in Baltimore’s history, which left the community riven (one local was hanged for leading the pirates to their victims), when many poor souls were forced to exchange the cool, temperate air of Baltimore for the arid deserts of North Africa and a life of brutal servitude.

Fast forward to 2021, and temperate weather and Moorish influence remain part of the narrative at The Algiers Inn, whose new owners, Californian couple William and Ann Hillyard, have transformed the inn’s interior into an exotic blend of colourful desert décor, bold patterns and cool tiles, wall-hung decorative plates, plenty of greenery and some striking Moroccan pendant lights.