Geese Have Gone Over the Water

A photograph of the pub sign

History of a Southover St pub

The first reference to this building in Southover Street being used as a public house is in 1869. It was initially called The Golden Cross.

The present landlord is an Irishman called Cyril Bourke. He took over the pub in May 1988, changed the interior and renamed it, The Geese have gone over the Water. His aim was to change the pub's image into a place where "artists and people interested in literature could come and talk".

The pub's name refers to sixteenth century Irish history when the nobility, artists and poets of Ireland fled to escape English rule. This period is also known as the "Flight of the Earls". The pub sign shows a picture of a sailing ship leaving Ireland for France.