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The Vulcan Hotel is one of the museum’s on-going building projects. The Vulcan was first registered as an 'ale house' in 1853. Its address was 10 Adam Street, Cardiff, and it served the mainly Irish community of what was then called Newtown. During its long history it saw major changes as Cardiff grew to become an industrial powerhouse and then the nation’s capital, finally closing its doors for the last time in 2012. We will display the Vulcan as it was in 1915 - an important year for the pub. It had just undergone a major refurbishment that saw its distinctive green and brown tiles added to the frontage, as well as a redesign of its interior.

The landlord at the time was Dennis MacCarthy who lived upstairs with his family, including their baby, Ellen MacCarthy, who was born in that year. We interviewed Ellen in 2012 and she told us about her life growing up in the pub.

The Vulcan was one of several along Adam Street – a few doors down was the Wheat Sheaf and a few doors up was the Forester’s Arms. It was a colourful place to live and one with a great sense of community. Newspapers tell of the night that Paul Begley broke the pub’s windows when his drunken behaviour got out of hand, and about Mary Ann M’Namara who tried to steal whiskey from the bar when it was empty. When our work rebuilding the Vulcan is completed we hope to have recreated a scene that all of these characters will recognise.