The fabulous Street 66 celebrates its 5th birthday this December and they’ve got some great events lined up for the coming weeks.

As owner Siobhan Conmy told GCN, “Opening Street 66 has been a pleasure and a dream for me. It’s hard to believe it’s our 5th Birthday”.

“Only for the community and support from my partner Catherine, my friends and family, it has kept me going for the last year and a bit with covid and looking at the joy we bring to our community it makes it all worthwhile.”

After a difficult year, Siobhan wants to pay tribute to the people we’ve lost and points out the importance of having a safe space to come together.

“Remembering all our friends who have passed away during the last 5 years with Covid and other illness, especially my Dad who passed in June with Motor Nuron Disease, the week we reopened the Bar, also a few amazing customers we dearly miss and will never forget. We need safe bars and Street 66 endeavours to make sure this is what we are.” 

Fittingly in the first event on the calendar, Street 66 celebrates the life and work of the great Irish queer writer, Oscar Wilde.  Wilde Poets on Tuesday, November 30 at 7 pm is billed as an evening of poetry, wit, fine minds and fine cocktails and marks the anniversary of his death. The evening is also the first in a series of events hosted by Dublin Pride as part of the Winter Pride Festival. 

The highlight of the birthday celebrations will take place the following day, Wednesday, December 1, as the bar hosts an Older than Pride Afternoon Tea with Mr Pussy. The legendary mother of Irish drag will be on hand to regale and amuse with her classic saucy wit over tea and cake. The fun will continue well into the night with great tunes and even more delectable banter.

This year will see the return of the Annual Collection for the Needy and Homeless, organised by Lynda Sheridan and Lorraine McDonnell. 

Although the appeal was run in the Front Lounge, prior to it becoming Street 66. The initiative has become a milestone on the bar’s seasonal calendar. As Lorraine points out, the 2016 appeal took place on the day Street 66 opened. 

She explains why she and Lynda started it. “I went through hard times, only for friends and family, you know, life could be very, very different now. We’d heard of a few people we knew that their luck had fallen. So we thought can we do something?”

They are asking people to make up boxes with toiletries, hats, gloves and underwear for both adults and children. They are also hoping to gather toys and goodies specifically for children. 

As Lorraine says, “to be able to just give, even if you’re only helping one person, it’s helping somebody… We can all help one another, just one little bit, it makes a huge difference.”

Lynda and Lorraine will be in Street 66 on Saturday, December 11 from 3 pm, to receive donations. As well as collecting the boxes, they have set up a gofundme page for anyone who wishes to make a cash donation. 

A brand new Christmas market to showcase Dublin based queer creators is coming to Street 66 on Parliament Street, one of the city's few dedicated LGBTQ+ bars.

Brought to us by husbands Ciaran and Luis, Quirk Market takes place on Sunday, December 19th https://t.co/MFXa7fxCAc

— 🏳️‍🌈 Dublin City Council LGBT+ Staff Network (@DCC_lgbt) November 18, 2021

And Street 66 will be doing their bit to help the community in other ways. On Sunday, December 19, between 12 pm and 5 pm, they will host Quirk Market, a Christmas market dedicated to showcasing Dublin based queer creators. 

The market, which is being organised by husbands Ciaran and Luis, has been imagined as a way to give queer creatives much-needed visibility and space to sell their wares following lockdown. 

The market sounds like the perfect place to stock up on all the Christmas presents and support the LGBTQ+ community at the same time. And all while strolling around with a mulled wine or hot toddy. What a great way to help Street 66 celebrate 5 years of serving the community.