Twenty years since Marty was 'called to the bar'

KILTIMAGH publican Marty O’Hora last year ran a once-off unique mentoring programme for young people who want to get into the bar trade. Eight ‘pupils’ went through his hands in the 20-hour course and it has been suggested that other bar owners should do likewise, writes Tom Gillespie.

Now two of the ‘trainees’ have taken up positions, one at the exclusive and world-renowned Ashford Castle in Cong and another at Claremorris Golf Club.

Marty, who together with his wife, Marie, took over the family business, Teach O’Hora, Main Street, Kiltimagh, from his father Aiden in 1996, said: “I started doing a course of training bar staff because of the number of people that were coming looking for work. I did not have work for them. But I gave them a bit of practical training.

“I have had some success in that one of them is now working at Claremorris Golf Club and another at Ashford Castle.”

Marty said when Ashford Castle contacted him for a reference, they expressed the wish that other publicans would run similar courses to attract people into the trade.

There has been a bar on the O’Hora premises for well over 100 years, with Marty’s mother May and father Aiden buying the premises and opening up as Aiden’s in 1967. Marty has worked with his father since doing his Leaving Cert in 1975 and on March 8, 1996, he and wife Marie, who joined him in the business, refurbished the premises and renamed it Teach O’Hora.

After completing his Leaving Cert, Marty went on to do civil engineering. His brother John studied art and another brother, Aiden, interior design. Their father was anxious that one of them would join him and take over the business. Marty, the eldest of six, said: “Dad asked if one of us was interested in coming in and working with him in the family business and when he would retire he would hand it on. I came home from Galway to work in the bar while John and Aiden stayed on to finish their courses.

“At the time we had a singing lounge and the nearby Raftery Rooms used to cater for the older age groups. My dad looked after the younger age groups. We had different types of bands to cater for the people who were going to the Crystal Ballroom. The showbands playing there used to come into my mother who would have plates of sandwiches for them.”

Marie (nee Higgins) was working for Baxter in Swinford and on March 8, 20 years ago, she started working in the bar.

“Next year we will be 50 years on the corner and my dad is going strong,” Marty declared.

When Marty and Marie decided to renovate the premises they did intensive research. At that time he was involved with the Vintners Federation of Ireland (VFI). He was county chairman for 15 consecutive years.

He added: “We use to have the Brose Walsh Band playing for us at our functions and Tomas Walsh, son of Brose, I knew was working for Telecom. I asked him where would I get an old phone box as a centrepiece for the pub and who should I go to. Tomas said I was asking the right man and said the old phone boxes were now being replaced by aluminium ones. There was a graveyard in Galway and the old ones all got dumped there. And he said to leave it with him.

“On Christmas Eve the following year Tomas rang me and said he had a phone box which had come from Belmullet but it had to be delivered that day. So I had to make arrangements to take it and eventually we had it installed in the pub.”

Another unique feature in Teach O’Hora is a small sitting room area with a fireplace, couches, and a lamp, and inside the bar there is a life size cow lying on a bed of straw, which is always a topic of conversation outside the bar.

When asked about the future, Marty said: “I don’t know who will take over from me. I am not retiring for the next few years anyway. Maybe some of the kids will have changed their minds by then. But we will wait and see. They are all doing quite well at the moment in their jobs.”

In 1997 Teach O’Hora won the Black & White Best Newcomer Award and the bar has also been featured in the Sunday World Pub Spy in 2011 and also got into the top 10 best pubs in the country that year in the Sunday World, which they are proud of.

They have an off-licence and Marty has been running the undertaking business since his dad retired a few years ago.

Bar food is available Monday to Saturday, serving homemade gluten-free soup, a large selection of sandwiches, paninis, wraps and rolls made to order, lasagne, quiche and baked potatoes with fillings, along with teas (regular and herbal), coffee, lattes, hot chocolate and homemade scones, all of which can be enjoyed by the cosy open fire or on a comfortable couch.

Marty and Marie would like to thank all the staff who have worked for them over the years and especially Tracey, Emma, Lisa, Marie, Katy and Nicole, who are with them now, and to all their customers and friends who have been so loyal over the last 20 years, they say thank you all.

Marty and Marie would also like to thank their children, Rachel, Denise and Eamon, who have helped them out over the years. They are very proud of them.

Teach O’Hora can be contacted on (094) 9381138 or (086) 2205170, fax (094) 9381138, email bmohora@hotmail.com, or log on to www.ohoraauctioneers.com.