The Bog celebrates 25 years

Wednesday, 14 February 2024

The Bog is celebrating its 25th birthday by selling Guinness at same price as when it opened it in 1999.

If you’ve ever taken part in leg flinging like Michael Flatley, swilled a Guinness or sung along to Whiskey in the Jar, you’ve probably been to The Bog in Christchurch.

It’s been 25 years since The Bog was established in Cashel Mall, so in true Irish style, the milestone is being celebrated via a week of gigs, events, prizes and 1999 Guinness prices between 4pm and 8pm, February 19 to February 25.

The Bog owner Max Bremner opened the Irish bar in 1999, in what he described as an “old traditional building” in the heart of the city night-life area, choosing the Irish theme because “they tend to go pretty good,” he said.

Max Bremner says The Bog must be doing something right because pubs “don’t normally last this long”.

“You can’t stuff them up. And the older they get, the better they are.”

The Bog is part of the Oxford Group which includes several city bars and restaurants, as well as The Bealey Quarter and Craythorne’s Hotel in Halswell.

The Christchurch earthquakes brought the old Irish pub down, leaving it “in limbo” for a few years, Bremner said, and seeing it move to Bealey Ave for some time before settling in Victoria St in 2014 where “the first green shoots of hospitality” were sprouting up.

For those who spent a late night or early morning at The Bog in its original building, there’s a sense of nostalgia when walking into its new premises.

The Guinness Club plaques list those who have downed thousands of pints of the famous ale.

A section of The Bog has been recreated to reflect how it was on Cashel St, Bremner said, down to the wallpaper and tobacco-stained ceiling.

It’s in this part that the Guinness Club plaques list those who have downed thousands of pints of the black Irish ale, and homage is paid to club members no longer with us.

Bremner aimed to keep the bar “reasonably traditional,” he said, including the Jameson Irish band Tuesday sessions which have been a constant “since day dot”.

The NZ final of Paper Scissors Rock at The Bog from June 2009, when the pub was still in Cashel St.

He said The Bog was the leading pourer of Guinness in New Zealand for more than 10 years, and is still ranked in the top three in New Zealand.

It also features on the Christchurch Monopoly board - “Monopoly approached us,” Bremner said.

“It’s a great pub, I’m so proud of it. Must’ve done something right because pubs don’t normally last that long.”