I don't know about Ireland; in the UK, for as long as I can remember
(I have spent several years there), a pub has two or three doors,
leading into two or three separate drinking areas
(on either side of the bar from which the service was done) --
but not for gender separation -- more for class separation:
the "public bar" for working people and the "saloon bar"
for the better class, or at least for those who wanted
a more sedate atmosphere, & were dressed for it.
This was very confusing to me until it was explained to me.

If you Google on "ladies entrance" the very first hit
contains the following:

>Women and public drinking, 1890-1920
>
>by Madelon Powers 
>
>In urban America from 1890 to 1920, when working-class taverns were popularly known as 'saloons' (derived from the French 'salon'), most customers were men who passed through the swing-doors to join their male comrades in the barroom proper. It is important to note, however, that many saloons also had a side door known as the 'ladies' entrance'.
>
> ( ... )
>
>If the existence of the 'ladies' entrance' demonstrates that saloons did indeed have their female customers, it also reveals that the saloon trade regarded women as a special and separate class of customer. The purpose of the side door for women appears to have been threefold. First, it permitted them to enter inconspicuously and minimise public scrutiny of their comings and goings, an indication that even those bold enough to patronise saloons remained sensitive to the disapproving glances of their more conservative neighbours and peers. (On some occasions, men wishing to avoid public notice would also use the side entrance).
>
>Second, and perhaps more important, women's entry through the side door eliminated the necessity of their running the gauntlet through the establishment's front room -- the barroom proper -- which in this era was still undisputed male territory with its stand-up bar, spittoons, moustache towels, brass footrails, and other symbols of 'masculinity emancipate', in the words of journalist Travis Hoke. Adventuresome though most saloongoing women were, they were not agitators; their aim was sociability, not social equality, and their stepping out did not include stepping into bar areas where they were not welcome.
>
>Finally, the side door for women afforded them quick and convenient access both to the far end of the bar, where they could purchase carry-out alcohol, and to a second chamber in many saloons which was known as the 'backroom', where they could feast on free lunches and beer, socialise with their dates, attend social events, or watch small-scale vaudeville productions. By means of the ladies' entrance, the saloon trade both facilitated and circumscribed women's participation in saloon culture.

This refers to pre-Prohibition, thus not just pre-1930 but pre-1920,
so Ralph's question is still hanging.  Guessed the date wrong?
Or an anachronistic establishment?

In the same period (1890-1920) Chicago schools had a
"Boys Entrance" and a "Girls Entrance" 
usually at opposite ends of the building.
These were carved in stone so they can still be seen.
(I'm not sure whether the apostrophes are there or not.)

At 12:55 PM 5/13/2010, Jenn wrote:

>Ralph,
>I recalled something about this in an article about the influence on Prohibition on 21st century American society.  Perhaps that West Philly bar is a bit older than you thought it was?  Or perhaps it's just a reused sign?
>
> From an article called "Our Wet Debt" by Daniel Okrent in New York Magazine.
>"Before the Eighteenth Amendment—barring the sale, manufacture, and transportation of intoxicating beverages—went into effect in 1920, drinking was mostly a sexually segregated activity. Well-off women may have imbibed with their men in hotel restaurants, but the saloon was a male-only institution. The drinking spots that bloomed during Prohibition saw no reason to discriminate. Established outside the law, they inevitably turned away from established convention. “A pretty girl in a speakeasy,” said songwriter Alec Wilder, “was the most beautiful girl in the world,” and the presence of thousands upon thousands of them made the speakeasies more popular than mere alcohol could. Of course, the sudden need for separate restrooms in the former saloons provoked the rushed installation of tiny bathrooms tucked into unused corners. These novel facilities were identified by a Prohibition neologism that stuck around: the powder room."
>
>Jenn

Martin C. Tangora
University of Illinois at Chicago
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