FEATURED REGION
JAMES JOYCE ONCE REMARKED ”a good puzzle would be cross Dublin without passing a pub.” He might be surprised to learn his words ring truer today than in his century. In Ireland, a country forged through centuries of conflict, people are quick to party and quick to laugh, with razor-sharp wit that lights up virtually any public house in the land. The quantity of pubs in Ireland, even in areas well off the beaten tourist path, speaks to their importance. For many Irish, a pub isn’t an occasional visit, it’s a lifestyle fixture that, for some, resonates as a daily ritual. For tourists, pubs offer a glimpse into Irish life: busy, loud, teeming with energy. Many pubs have stood witness to history — the country’s oldest, Sean’s Pub in Athlone, was founded in 900 A.D., when Vikings ruled. It persevered through the end of the first Viking age, the second Viking age, the invasion by the Normans in 1169, the rise and fall of slavery, conquest by the Tudors and the rise of a free Republic of Ireland in 1922. In Dublin, the Brazen Head is the city’s oldest, dating to 1198 A.D. The famed Temple Bar Pub remains family owned (even if not by the same family), having slung pints since 1840. Both were in operation during the Easter uprising
of 1916, in 1972 when news of Bloody Sunday swept the land and when the Good Friday (1998) peace agreement ended centuries of rebellion. It is perhaps this difficult, and relatively recent, history that gives Ireland its cheery demeanour. When true, honest adversity is so fresh of mind, issues that seem so important in other parts of the world barely raise an eyebrow here. Freedom is recently won here, so they’re not going to waste it worrying about the contents of someone’s laptop or whether the prime minister is a former drama teacher. Or maybe it’s just the rain. Spend two weeks in Ireland and the reason for its lush green landscapes becomes readily apparent. “In Ireland, if it’s not raining, it’s going to rain and if it is raining, it’s going to rain some more,” a passer-by said during one of our daily rains in Limerick, on the country’s west side. It typically didn’t last, but it did serve as an almost daily cleansing, leaving behind a fresh, clean scent. Planes, trains and automobiles, and maybe some buses: our trip to Ireland was often like the famous John Candy movie, but without the scorched K-Car and infamous “two pillows.” We landed in Dublin and caught a bus to Limerick, where my wife and I spent the first week
The quantity of pubs in Ireland, even in areas well off the beaten tourist path, speaks to their importance. For many Irish, a pub isn’t an occasional visit, it’s a lifestyle fixture that, for some, resonates as a daily ritual.
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