Water Rat Bar and Cafe, formerly
Freemasons’ Hotel, Druids’ Hotel
and Enzee Hotel 1858 -
Hotel Address Details
Druid's Hotel, 1919
Founded by Henry Glynn in 1858, the Freemason’s Hotel was originally at
252 Moray Street.Publican Allen Wyatt had his license
cancelled on 23 July 1864 for allowing a
Mrs. Crunies, who had bought the hotel, to manage without a license.His successor Peter Madden (1864-1872) was
buried from the hotel on 2 February 1872.After an auction on 16 April 1874, the Freemasons’ Hotel was renamed Druid’s Hotel.
While it was not a traditional painters and dockers
hotel, it is often associated with the union, largely because of the 1973
murder of union secretary Pat Shannon who was gunned down at the hotel. Billy
‘The Texan’ Longley, a key figure in the union, was found guilty of Shannon’s murder that he
had instigated although not directly executed.During the 1980s, a group of solicitors who named the hotel the Splash
Club after their weekly Friday night drinks bought the hotel, but by 1985, it
was known as the Enzeder. It was renamed the Water Rat in 1991 and was one of
the first hotels in South Melbourne to introduce outdoor
seating.A wood fire for winter nicely
complements the curvaceous central bar. It closed at the end of 2003
