Dunleary was a veritable haven for ships awaiting entry to Dublin Bay. Though the roads were rocky, narrow and winding, there was a considerable volume of coach traffic journeying between Blackrock and Dunleary, particularly during the summer months.
Wherever there was coach travel, there was a great necessity for Inns to accommodate and provide sustenance to the weary pilgrims of commerce and so was the starting point for the Purty Kitchen in 1728. The original inn, a thatched roof makeshift edifice constructed of clay, straw and wood, housed coach travellers overnight providing food, warmth and potent ales and wines. There was a large livery yard to the rear where horses were fed, rested and exchanged. Common to other coaching inns, the innkeepers would have kept many farm animals: pigs, hens, ducks, geese and cattle, which were then slaughtered for consumption at the inn. For the first 40 years of its existence this house was known at different times as the Old Dunleary Inn and The Mariner’s Inn.