This pub was built in 1887 after the original tavern was demolished on the opposite side of the road to make way for the new law courts. In 1984 a grinning disembodied head appeared to a barmaid as she stood at the back door to the building and her terrified screams were heard throughout the bar. The head was apparently identified as being that of Oliver Goldsmith, Irish poet, writer and physician, who was buried in Temple Church, located behind the present tavern, in 1774.