A trawl through much changed pub scene

THE bar scene has changed dramatically in Castlebar over the years. Gone are the days when nearly every second house on Main Street and Linenhall Street was a family-run licensed pub, writes Tom Gillespie.

And customers of either Kenny’s (Chinese Oriental restaurant) and Clarke’s (McHugh’s), next door on Main Street, were often left confused when they returned from the gents.

The reason being was that both public houses shared the same loo and patrons returning to their pint often went into the wrong house and were bewildered when they could not locate the drink they had left on the counter.

On Linenhall Street you had four pubs next to each other: Sloyan’s (originally O’Malley’s), The Weaver’s (Conway’s), The Cabin and The Fiddler, and just a door above them was The Friendly Tavern (Coady’s), McDonnell’s and Breege O’Connor’s.

Across the road you had Moran’s (Rocky’s), The Cobweb, McNamara’s, Lally’s, Healy’s and Sheridan’s (later the Town Hall Tavern).

Bucko Sheridan’s, across from the town hall, was unique in that a cow was housed at the rear of the premises and daily she was taken to pasture at a field opposite St. Bridget’s Crescent and was walked back to the pub in the evening.

It was not unusual for regulars to be greeted with a cow pat on the pub floor as she was ushered in and out the back, which bordered the town river.

Said river often proved an escape route when gardaí raided the premises.

This was the era of the bonfides where you were required to travel three miles to get a drink on a Sunday.

 

Tragedy struck the cow

On one particular Sunday tragedy struck when the cow passed away and several regulars, employees of the bacon factory, were called on to remove the carcass from the premises.

They attached ropes to the dead animal and commenced to pull her through the bar and out the front door.

Unfortunately, they had their quarry just halfway out the door when a sergeant and garda came around the corner from Main Street. Thankfully the sight of the ‘corpse’ that met them was too much and they turned on their heels and retreated up the town.

A water pump was located outside Breege O’Connor's on which a customer of Sheridan’s, a man of small stature, would sit as the lookout on Sunday for approaching gardaí from Main Street.

One of the Sheridan brothers would be positioned upstairs with a clear view of the sentry.

At the sign of the law approaching from the top of Main Street he would pretend to be walking slowly with his legs dangling from the pump and as they came nearer the walking pace would quicken.

However, the late Detective Jim Bohan was aware of the ruse. He was in uniform back then and would deliberately walk down Main Street on a Sunday morning and observe the sentry quicken his walking impression. When he got to the bridge at Condon’s he would quickly turn around and head up the street again. This he repeated several times, much to the frustration of the sentry.

Paddy Moran’s St. Helena Bar at the pig market is one of the best known pubs in the county town, which is now run by his son John and is renowned for its fine porter.

Close by was the Brown Cow, The Harp, McGoldrick’s, The Kingsbridge (originally Garavan’s and later Baja Brown’s), Tipsy Toad, The Coach and Ned Cunningham’s. Moran’s and Cunningham’s were hugely popular with the bacon factory workers.

 

My first Guinness

On New Antrim Street was Norrie’s, later to become The Welcome Inn, with brothers Tom and Luke McHugh, and, of course, Johnny McHale’s across the road where I had my first glass of Guinness over half a century ago.

Those I can remember on Main Street were McGlinskey’s (where Elverys now stands), Byrne’s, Murtagh’s (later Willie Joe Padden’s and now Mulroy’s), The Bungalow (with The Cellar downstairs. It was originally Tolan’s, then Cannon’s), Hoban’s (Hennelly’s), The Humbert Inn, McCarthy’s (Bridge Street), and Rowland’s.

On Ellison Street we had Tansey’s, which was the bus stop, and later Flannelly’s. The Irish House is across the road now but in the period I am recalling the Wimpy Bar was located there.

As you go down to Market Square we had Smiler Murphy’s, later Padraig Flynn’s Sunflower, and Pat Moran’s Bourbon, and on the square was Eddie Cannon’s famed Academy.

On Castle Street, we had The Goal Post, Nat Ruane’s Rainbow (later Stalky’s), Ray Prendergast’s, Conway’s (now Ger Whyte’s Castle Inn), The Castle Bistro and the Imperial Hotel on the Mall.

On Spencer Street the watering holes were Kelly’s (now Tolster’s), Mitchell’s (later Paddy Bourke’s, Hughes’s, Shortt’s and now The Connaught Inn), Seamie Byrne's, King’s (later Ainsworth’s and Moran’s), Reilly’s (later Cosgrove’s) and Bernie Reilly’s Green Olive where Rua is now located.

The Airport Lounge was on the Breaffy Road and the Traveller’s Friend Hotel on Westport Road, Babs McTigue’s Shamrock Bar and Breaffy House Hotel in Breaffy, Rowland’s and Mrs. Bourke’s in Turlough, and McEvilly’s and The Punchbowl in Ballyheane.

I am sure there were several pubs I have forgotten but those mentioned above I vividly recall.

The trade has utterly changed since the days of the family-run pub, of which so many have unfortunately vanished.

 

* Read Tom Gillespie's weekly column in the print edition of The Connaught Telegraph – out every Tuesday