Sunflower Public House

Sunflower Public House opened in December 2012 on the corner of Kent Street and Union Street, a site on which a public house has stood for over 100 years. It is right behind Belfast Central Library and within close proximity to The Belfast Telegraph, The Irish News and the University of Ulster. Sunflower is a simple corner pub, it is free of gimmicks or themes, and it is one of the few remaining. It is instantly recognisable by the security cage on its front door, a relic from 1980’s Belfast. While the cage is no longer needed for security reasons, it has been kept and preserved as part of the city’s social history. Music is very much part of the pub’s life: Traditional, Appalachian and Gypsy Swing sessions feature weekly in the bar while folk and bluegrass are regularly featured upstairs. The upstairs room is also home to the monthly Sunflower Comedy Club which attracts big names from the Irish and UK comedy circuits. Hearty bowls of stew are served on Fridays and Saturdays with fresh wheaten bread, which go hand-in-hand with pints of locally brewed ale from Hilden. The pub’s clientele is also a rich tapestry of Belfast life: arts students and professionals, backpackers and apartment dwellers, gay and straight, young and old. It is a melting pot of city centre life.