Mr Fitzpatrick's, previously Fitzpatrick's Herbal Health, is a temperance bar based in Rawtenstall, Lancashire. It is the oldest surviving temperance bar in the United Kingdom. [1] [2]
Mr Fitzpatrick's, previously Fitzpatrick's Herbal Health, is a temperance bar based in Rawtenstall, Lancashire. It is the oldest surviving temperance bar in the United Kingdom. [1] [2]
Mr Fitzpatrick's was established in the 1890s [a] by Irish immigrants from Dublin [6] during the peak of the temperance movement [4] and was formerly operated alongside 39 other branches. [1] [7] It was owned by the Fitzpatrick family until it was given to Bob and Beryl Waddington in 1982 following Malachi Fitzpatrick's retirement. [8] [9] [10]
The bar was bought by John and Suzanne Spencer in 1994. [9] Commonly referred to as Fitzpatrick's, [11] it was renamed from Herbal Health to Fitzpatrick's Herbal Health in 1998. [12] [13]
In 2003, sarsaparilla was briefly unavailable at Fitzpatrick's [14] due to the presence of sassafras, an ingredient traditionally present in the drink and a potential carcinogen. It was subsequently reintroduced with a modified formulation. [2]
On 15 July 2007, Fitzpatrick's was featured in How We Built Britain , a documentary about British architecture and social history. [15]
It briefly closed between January and March 2016. [3] Following a refurbishment, for which the bar was closed between July and August of that year, it started selling cake and milkshakes and incorporating their existing drinks into the recipes. [5]
On 18 November 2021, Mr Fitzpatrick's made an appearance in an episode of Celebrity Antiques Road Trip . [16] [17]
Drinks produced by Mr Fitzpatrick's include sarsaparilla, dandelion and burdock, [6] cream soda and ginger beer, [18] along with more exclusive cordials such as blood tonic. [6]
