Davy Byrne's is a Dublin pub that briefly turns Farrington’s workplace humiliation into a performance of masculine wit. As the story of his retort to Mr Alleyne passes from one drinker to another, the pub’s rounds, laughter, and competing anecdotes make it a place where a small act of defiance can be celebrated even as the men remain immersed in drinking.

Setting and Social Use

Nosey Flynn sits in his usual corner at Davy Byrne's when he hears Farrington’s account. He stands Farrington a half-one, praising the retort as especially clever; Farrington returns the gesture by standing a drink for him. Their exchange establishes the pub as a setting where a story earns recognition through hospitality and reciprocal rounds.

The Retort Becomes a Shared Performance

The story is soon repeated to O'Halloran and Paddy Leonard, who come in after Nosey Flynn. O'Halloran buys hot malt drinks for the group and offers his own tale of a retort to a chief clerk at Callan's, on Fownes's Street. He concedes that his answer, framed in the manner of the liberal shepherds in the eclogues, was not as clever as Farrington’s. Farrington then urges the others to finish their drinks and have another, turning the contest in wit back into another round.

Higgins arrives just as the men are naming their drinks, and is drawn into the company. After five small hot whiskies, he retells the encounter with Mr Alleyne’s fist-shaking reproduced for comic effect. He imitates Farrington too, repeating the account’s claim of coolness: “And here was my nabs, as cool as you please,” while Farrington watches the group, smiling and drawing stray drops of liquor from his moustache with his lower lip. The pub does not merely provide a venue for the anecdote; its listeners and imitators reshape the incident into shared entertainment.

From One Bar to Another

When that round ends, the group pauses. O'Halloran has money, but the other two men apparently do not, and the party leaves reluctantly. At the corner of Duke Street, Higgins and Nosey Flynn turn left while the other three head back toward the city. In the drizzling rain, Farrington suggests the Scotch House. The movement away from Davy Byrne's carries the storytelling onward: the three men find another crowded bar, where Leonard introduces them to Weathers, an acrobat performing at the Tivoli, and Farrington stands another drink for the group.

Narrative Significance

The scene links Davy Byrne's to a circulation of stories sustained by drink, retelling, and audience approval. Farrington’s retort gains social value in the pub through the men’s laughter and comparisons with their own anecdotes, though the praise remains bounded by the next round and the group’s limited money. The shift to the Scotch House extends the same pattern beyond Davy Byrne's, making the pub the first stop in an evening whose fellowship is repeatedly organized around buying, sharing, and recounting.