The Hi-B (Hibernian), Cork, Ireland

Hi-B Bar (Hibernian), Cork, Ireland

There’s a certain charm to bars on the second floor. They’re off the beaten track, thus more likely to be populated by locals. You have to make an effort to climb up that flight of stairs, so you know the patrons are a dedicated, thirsty crew. I’ve had very few bad second-floor bar experiences and many, many excellent ones.

The Hi-B (Hibernian) in Cork followed that rule to the letter. Unassuming-yet-simultaneously-garish entrance, unassuming-yet-historic decor, fantastic conversation. On our visit, an interjection to an ongoing chat about the Wars of the Roses got us into a conversation with a nutritional scientist who later eloborated at frightening (yet, charming) lengths about GMO‘s and the evil machinations of the food industry. In other words, the kind of casual discussion with a stranger you can only have at a real pub. Most frequently, at a slight elevation.

Visited: December 30, 2006

McCarthy’s Grocery and Bar, Castletownberre, Ireland

Feel like a quick pint while you stock up for the week’as meals? This is your place. Great little town, great little pub/grocery store. No need to rush…Order a pint of the black stuff, ponder a few Dreams and let the day go buy.

Visited: December 2006

The Tin Pub, Ahakista, County Cork, Ireland

If you’re looking to get off the beaten path in West Cork, the Sheepshead Peninsula is a good start. Where Counties Kerry and Cork meet, the coastline resembles four fingers dangling into the Atlantic. The Sheepshead is the less travelled and populated middle finger. The completely-unpronounceable-except-for-the-Irish hamlet of Ahakista lies about a third of the way down the peninsula, about 8km from Durrus, and offers visitors 0 stores, 0 churches and 2 pubs. Just the way it should be.

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The Tin Pub is the friendlier of the duo. The publican is happy to impart local knowledge on outsiders, keeps a warm fire on cold winter nights and hosts music nights regularly. The tiny space (about 15 seats max) is perfect for sipping and chatting. We were lucky enough to be around on St Stephen’s Day and got a chance to hear some wren boys (and girls) do their thing, as well as a local musician who took our Gordon Lightfoot requests with much graciousness. (A more appropriate request in a peninsula pub like this might have been The Irish Rover by The Dubliners & The Pogues.) With pubs closing at an alarming rate, especially in rural areas like West Cork, we can only hope that gems like The Tin Pub remain open for many St Stephen’s Days to come.

Visited: late December 2006

The Quays – Galway, County Galway, Ireland

It’s only fitting that a blog about the bars and pubs of the world should start on the very Emerald Isle. Galway at Christmas is already a welcoming place, and when you stumble into The Quays at the end of a boozy evening, you know you’ve come home. A sprawling place kitted out with the fittings from a French medieval church, the amazing interiors are as inspiring as its ales. If you’re looking for a little more authenticity and coziness, the original pub (operating from  the 19th century as Delia Lydon’s) is “perfectly preserved”, according to the Galway City Pub Guide.

The night that we were there, musicians serenaded the crowd from the mezzanine gallery, invoking – in a whisky-soaked way – the choir in an ancient cathedral. When they started up on that most glorious hymn, Fairytale of New York, and the parishioners raised their glasses and voices in beautiful harmony, The Quays moved from magical to sublime. A true Christmas miracle…

Where: Quay Street, Galway

Visited: December 29, 2006
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