The Pubs in Ireland

      We visited many many pubs in various sized cities, towns, villages, and thatched-roof tiny outposts.

They ALL (with NO exceptions) had at least one or more pubs. The pub is, of course, a drinking hole (and sometimes eating hole) serving somewhat the same purposes as bars here and elsewhere.

BUT after only a few visits, it is apparent that the quality of the experiences are vastly different. Since my purpose is to describe the psycho-social character of IRISH pubs, I will describe only those peculiar to the Irish pub.First, the sizeof a typical pub is small. It doesnt take more than a dozen or so to fill these places.Some have a second room, equally as small.This makes them feel cozy, warm, and snug. Some have, inside the pub, an enclosed table with a door to enter and leave These are called SNUGS.Next,there is the age of many, if not most, Irish pubs...we are talking OLD. the oldest (The Brazen Head in Dublin) began in 1198. others are from the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries. The Irish people seem to value the traditions inherent in these old places, the father/son/grandson/greatgrandson ownership line, the traditions in each place, from the nature of the patrons, e.g., writers, politicians, musicians, young, middle age, old, etc, to which beers are served on  tap (next post).to what food is served, to what music is played there. This adherence to such unspoken "rules" of attendance means that soon after you enter any pub, the vibe is clear: students, retired guys, Polish people, Italians,International ( a little of everything). My kids met a Swedish and Norwegian musician at such a pub.I would have probably felt a little on the fringe there.

The next factor is the most striking of all the pub vibes. They are all places for social discourse. It is rare to find a busy pub without the requisit volume of conversation. And Irish LOVE conversation (did i say i felt right at home?) In most pubs, it doesnt take but a minute or two before you are engaged in conversation with an Irish person, who will make you laugh (they are genuinely naturally funny, not kidding) and they will buy your drinks and regale you with the stories of their life, with all the warts, regrets, self recriminations, sex, money, the whole shebang. at least some of the older ones will...

You may be expected to open up also...if you do,they will love you unabashedly, hug you alot, and use your name when speaking to you. if you dont,they will smile and let you know you arent really playing fair, buy you another drink,and move on....

The only other reason people go to pubs besides talking, is to listen to or play music.Music means, in this case, trad music (traditional), guitar, violin, banjo, bodhran, spoons,etc. any one can sit in, you just bring your instrument and join the group. somgs range from victorian ballads, to Mollie Malone, and even Goodnight Irene. The imbibing  patrons singalong,call out requests, but NEVER ....talk during the music...NEVER. the patrons will HUSH you, the musicians will HUSH you, the bartender will HUSH you. Got it? So you go to pubs to talk,to listen, or.......to watch the World Cup.

Oh,and what tiime does all the fun begin? In Annascaul, a small village on the Dingle peninsula, the South Pole bar was jammed to the rafters at.......10:30 am....
Whatever the purpose of a pub, whether music, or chatting, Irish people characterize the "fun" factor as "craic". Good craic is a compliment to a pub, a reason to go there. Vibrant, maybe noisy, a happy vibe.
Bad craic is equally an insult, meaning "stay away". A bar with only a few people, quiet, low energy, is consifered BAD CRAIC.........they should try Schuberg's at 10 pm on a weekday night.........

Ballyvaughn: A Small-Town Crawl

After Leenane, we spent several days in a house outside Galway with no internet or cel service (hence the absence of updates).  We made several day trips, including a fantastic day on Inis Mor in the Aran Islands, as well as a night in Galway where I became an involuntary participant in a rather impressive street performer's stunt (see below).  We then moved on to the small town of Ballyvaughn for an overnight stay on our way to the Dingle peninsula. 

After checking into the lovely Ballyvaughn Lodge, we began our exploration of the town.  The first stop for my dad and I was the pub in the Logue Lodge, one of the local b&bs.  We found the place gradually filling up in preparation for the semifinals of the Gaelic football league, in which Dublin Coun was taking on Kerry County.  Fans of both clubs populated the place, and we quickly looked up the rules to get up to speed.  Gaelic football is an interesting mix of soccer, rugby, and American football.  It was very fun to watch, and the Smithwick's was going down smoothly as the game got into full swing.  The crowd was initially subdued, but got more vocal as the game got more intense.  The staff was friendly and answered our questions about the game patiently.  When Dublin won on a go-ahead score with only a minute or two left, half the crowd exploded in cheers--very fun atmosphere to watch sports in.  While Logue was nothing to get too excited about, we left with a favorable impression.  

After meeting up for dinner, the full fam headed over O'Lochlainn, a small whiskey bar on the edge of town.  This place was fantastic.  A quiet bar intended for chatting, the place boasted a huge whiskey selection (pic below) and a barkeep that chatted us up about our travels, local attractions, local history, and music.  We sampled several whiskeys including some Jameson, some Red Breast, and some Green Spot, and Emma continued her adoption of Jameson and ginger ale as her drink of choice.  We had a good chat with the barkeep and amongst ourselves, telling stories and jokes for an hour or so.  A cozy place, O'Lochlainn probably only seats about 30, with a bar and a few tables in the front and a small snug for 5-6 in the back.  I'd definitely go back with a few hours to kill if the opportunity arose.  

We were ready to head home after O'Lochlainn, but a few of us had hoped to catch some music while in Ballyvaughn.  Passing the bar at the Hylands Burren Inn on our way back, we heard applause and cheering.  While my mom and Ellie were too tired for another stop, Emma, my dad and I dropped in to see what was going on.  What we found was a tiny front room where a group of four musicians were entertaining a packed crowd of about 20.  We found a couple seats, got some drinks, and settled in for the show.  An informal group, the musicians bantered with the crowd (many of who, were locals) between songs.  One of the musicians at one point pulled out a contraption consisting of two wooden marionette-type dolls and a long, thin board.  While the rest of the band played instrumental, he bounced the board up and down against the dolls' feet to create complex percussive patterns.  One of the coolest musical performances we saw.  At one point, the "leader" of the band even attempted to get my dad to come up and sing, singling him out of the crowd and saying that he "looked like a man with a song."  Unfortunately, the old man was too far out of his element that night to lead a performance, but did join in happily in singing crowd favorites like "Molly Malone" and "Goodnight Irene."  After another hour drinking and singing, we called it a night and headed back to the inn, very glad we'd made the stop at Hylands. 

Westport and Leenane

Bidding farewell to Dublin and renting a car, we hit the road and headed to the countryside.  After accustoming ourselves to the near-death experience that is driving on rural roads in Ireland, we made our way to our first stop, Westport.  Westport is a quaint little town, with lots of shops, restaurants and, of course, pubs.  After doing a little exploring and taking a (somewhat taxing) bike ride on the local bike trail, we stopped into Matt Molloy's, which we were told was the cant-miss watering hole in Westport. 

Around since 1896, Molloy's has a great vibe, decked out with authentic trinkets from its early years like old pictures, product packages, and the like.  It is small, cozy, and feels like the epitomal small-town pub.  It is also supposed to be one of the best spots for traditional Irish folk music in the world.  Unfortunately, we were too early in the day to catch any of it.  But we did get a chance to talk to the owner's son, who was tending the bar.  He gave us some history on the place, as well as the recent shift in serving convention for Guinness.  Typically served at or just below room temperature, in recent years puns have begun serving it colder in response to customer requests.  Molloy's, however, keeps a second tap of room-temperature Guinness on hand, and will gladly pour you a "roomie" upon request (or mix a little of each tap together to bring the temp up a little).  After a couple beers with Molloy's, though, the road was calling our names and we headed on. 

After a stopover in Dromore West in Sligo Co., where we met some distant relatives and got some great family history, we hit the road to Leenane.  My mother had just done a run of "The Beauty Queen of Leenane," and wanted to see the play's setting in person.  Leenane turned out to be a pretty, if small, village on Killary Harbor in Connemara.  

Apart from a few inns and restaurants, its primary attraction is Gaynor's pub, which was the setting for the movie The Field.  The pub itself is warm and inviting, with dark wood and a roaring fire in the fireplace (a welcome feature on a chilly fall night), and the walls are decorated with articles about the film shot there.  But the charm ended there, in my opinion.  Gaynor's was the first place we stopped on our crawl where we didn't really feel welcome, as the bartender seemed to resent a group of non-locals taking up a table in the near-empty bar.  She did not ick up on our attempt to strike up a chat and, apart from one patron that stopped us to chat for a minute, I generally got the vibe that we weren't wanted there.  (Or at least, no one was interested I talking to us--which is about the same thing in Ireland.)  After finishing a round, we headed out, disappointed but optimistic about our next stops.