Bruiden
In Gaelic Ireland, a bruiden was a building offering shelter, drink and food, often translated as "hostel", "banqueting hall" or "inn." A description in The Tale of Mac Da Thó's Pig (c. AD 800) describes one "bruiden": "There were seven doors in each hall, seven roads through it, and seven fireplaces therein. There were seven cauldrons, with an ox and a salted pig in each. The person who came that way would thrust the fleshfork into the cauldron, and whatever he obtained with the first thrust he ate, and if he did not obtain anything with the first  thrust he ate nothing." The host ("brugaid") was required to show "welcome to all" and "refusal to none." List. According to The Tale of Mac Da Thó's Pig, there were five or six major "bruidne" in Ireland: However, Fled Bricrenn (8th century) mentions the "briuga" Bricriu Nemthenga ("Poison-tongue"). Bruiden Blai Brugad or Bruiden Brúadaig is another, located in Ulaid, hosted by Blai. Bruiden of Moda Minadhmadadh is another. The idea of having six "bruidne" may have been chosen to mirror the six "cities of refuge" in the Hebrew Bible. Sean's Bar in Athlone is located in a  building parts of which have been dated to c. AD 900, with wattle and wicker walls. Located near a crossing-point on the River Shannon, it claims to be Ireland's oldest pub and may be the site of an ancient "bruiden".