According to Peter Barclay, who runs one of Canberra's longest-running drinking holes, King O'Malley's in Civic, it's about ambience, music, good conversation ... and Guinness.

Plenty of fresh, clean Guinness on tap, at a beloved pub named for an avowed teetotaller.

Add to that vintage furniture, a scattering of historical items, a snug behind the bar and a yearly beard competition, and you have yourself a true Canberra institution.

When Barclay opened King O'Malley's nearly 24 years ago, it was Canberra's first pub for the new century, with a sprawling, warren-like feel in a building that was first opened in 1970 by a mini-skirted Princess Margaret.

Having sampled various Irish pubs around the world, including a particularly memorable one in Shanghai run by a Kiwi, he decided it was time for a new one in Canberra.

The opening more or less coincided with the 1990s-era rash of cookie-cutter Irish-style establishments that had opened throughout Australia and many parts of the non-Ireland world - thanks in large part to Guinness, which directly provided advice about architecture and decor as a way of stemming the rise of British-style establishments.

But Barclay wanted something with a distinctive feel, and a suitably Irish-adjacent name.

The one in Shanghai, also called O'Malley's, was named for a female pirate.

The Canberra version would be named for a different kind of a renegade - an American political figure who fudged his birthdate, claimed to be Canadian (so as to be able to serve in the Australian parliament), and was instrumental in championing a new capital at the turn of the previous century.

It was King O'Malley who lobbied for an inland site in the country's south, helped choose the location, and selected the American winners, Walter and Marion Griffin, of the international design competition.

We also have King O'Malley to thank for co-founding the Commonwealth Bank, driving in the first peg on Canberra's foundation day, and introducing Canberra's leasehold system.

We'd all be raising a glass to him, except that he was a non-drinker who was responsible for the infamous ban on alcohol - "stagger-juice", as he called it - in the ACT from 1911 to 1928.

But it's his spirit and vision that Barclay wanted to celebrate with his pub.

"He was like Walter Burley Griffin - they both came unstuck because the bureaucracy didn't really see their vision all the way through," Barclay says.

"The Griffin design was changed ... and King O'Malley had this very strong conviction that alcohol wasn't good."

As a nod to his proclivities, the first thing pub patrons see as they walk in is a water filter. The second thing they'll likely notice is the proliferation of King O'Malley portraits scattered around the pubs many rooms, nooks and crannies.

There's also a violin, a stuffed deer head, an American spinning wheel, a gramophone, a bookcase full of books about Ireland (donated by a patron in memory of her Ireland-loving father), and several artworks created by local artists as donations, commissions or, in the case of the large-scale hen with teeth, a competition held to celebrate Floriade one year.

The pub has enjoyed symbiotic relationships with various businesses around town, many of which have come and gone, including Chicken Gourmet a few doors down, the Gypsy Bar which used to be underneath, and Filthy McFaddens in Kingston, another classic Irish establishment, albeit one with more of a ratbag persona.

When Filthy's closed down in 2010, Barclay acquired one of its solid oak tables at auction, which now has pride of place in front of the bluestone fireplace created and installed by local stonemasons.

He also runs free skin-checks for men, hosts reading, language and chess groups, and holds the largest Saint Patrick's Day celebrations in the city.

And then there's the beer; Barclay says King O'Malley's patrons are among the top 10 largest consumers of Guinness in Australia.

And, there's the brand new Kingo's Lager on tap, brewed specially for the pub by local brewery Bentspoke - not to be confused with The Kingo, otherwise known as the Kingston Hotel across town.

"There's so much change, and it's lovely to have some things that still you can come to," Barclay says.

"It's now 23 years and so many people have come up to me and said, 'I met my partner here, and these are our children'.

"I wouldn't be surprised if there are some King O'Malley grandchildren out there."