For a brief time be not of this place, but let your spirit take flight across the gray sea and verdant ground. To the land of Carolan and Joyce. A domain where words, voice and song become one in celebration of God’s grand design!
No matter how hard she tried, Hurricane Irene can’t take this great pub away from us!!
Hurricane Irene has left her mark on my home state of New Jersey, and especially on one of my favorite pubs, the Kilkenny House in Cranford, New Jersey.
St. Pattys Day crowd at the Kilkenny House in Cranford, NJ
When I am not moonlighting as a writer for APHR, I am a professional musician. And I have been playing this place for the past couple of years. To say it is one of my favorite places to work would be an understatement. Great drink, great food, the Kilkenny truly has it all. But most importantly, the people who work there, and the regulars who drink there, have always made me feel right at home.
Earlier in the week, I was told by some friends in the area that the Kilkenny House was devastated by the flooding from Irene. I did some poking around the internet and found this sobering report on CNN.com.
photo by nj.com
I have total confidence that the Kilkenny’s owner Barry O’Donovan will rebuild this fantastic pub back to her former glory. And as they posted on their Facebook page earlier in the week “Oh, but what a great Irish hoolie we will have when that day comes!”
I am not sure what we pub fanatics can do to help, but one thing I can promise is that when the day comes for that hoolie to happen, you will find me that morning waiting at the door so I can get a seat at the bar nice and early. Good Luck and Best Wishes to everyone at the Kilkenny!!
by Dave McBride
“Welcome Home,” Mr. President
With the simple front-page headline “Welcome Home,” The Evening Herald, a leading Irish newspaper, put to rest any further questions about Barack Obama’s true pedigree. An endorsement from the land of long pours and long stories trumps the long form birth certificate every time. So Mr. Obama now becomes the 29th of the 44 US presidents to trace his roots to the old sod of Erin.
In a scene reminiscent with Sean Thornton, played by John Wayne in The Quiet Man, in which the celebrated Yank returns to Ireland to lay claim to the ancestral cottage in which he was born–the President arrived in Moneygall and was escorted by Henry Healy, his long-lost eighth cousin on his mother’s side, to the humble abode from where Falmouth Kearney. his great-great-great grandfather, had emigrated to America in the 1850s.
And like all great tales involving the Irish, there was of course the obligatory public house scene. At day’s end the President and his entourage adjourned to Ollie Hayes’ Pub to hoist a few pints.
As I watched the coverage of this event unfold, I came to the realization that in the grand scheme of the universe the odds of being raised up in the Rapture in America during this past Saturday were probably about the same as the odds of pints of Guinness being raised up by a black US president in Ireland on any given day of the week.
S0 here’s to raising up a good pint, a good man–and to beating the odds every once in a while!
Click here to experience how the good people of Moneygall and the Corrigan Bothers marked this extraordinary occasion.
Posted bt: Chris Poh
Remembering the Civil War
Today marks the 150th anniversary of the beginning of our Civil War, the seminal event in American History. Though it seems this important historical date has gone largely forgotten by the media, we here at Pub Talk would like to do our part in commemorating this event.
Gettysburg's Eternal Light Peace Memorial
This week, we will look back at some of the best Civil War influenced pubs and music featured on the American Public House Review. We begin today with a pub in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania which happens to also be my personal favorite watering hole found in town, O’Rorkes Eatery and Spirits.
O'Rorke's Eatery and Spirts in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
O’Rorke’s may not be the centuries old, bullet-ridden place one may expect to find in a town like Gettysburg. But don’t let that deter you one but. Sit at the bar here, and you will find yourself immersed in the spirit of this haunting town. Before long, you too will notice that you keep passing the other taverns by for a seat at the bar in O’Rorkes.
By Dave McBride
The hard truth is that David rarely ever beats Goliath
After weeks of hype, I was ready for the match. My beloved Tottenham Hotspur were to take on Real Madrid, the storied “Galacticos” and perhaps the world’s grandest sports club, in the UEFA Champions League Quarterfinals. It was the biggest match the club has seen in a generation. We were in Manhattan early to do some research for the American Public House Review and then end our day watching the game somewhere downtown. I had my Spurs shirt on and was prepared for anything, but one can never truly be prepared for disaster, and a 4-0 loss is nothing short of a soccer cataclysm.
Molly's Shebeen in Manhattan
After finishing our research, my plan was to head uptown a few blocks and watch the match at Nevada Smith’s, Manhattan’s most famous football pub. Americans and ex-patriots from all over the world pack into this pub on game-day in what can usually be described as a festive atmosphere. But after seeing roughly ten minutes of play I knew the team was in for a failure of epic proportions. So rather than stay at Nevada Smith’s and listen to the gleeful cheers of the Real Madrid faithful we decided to make the best of a bad situation and head up to my absolute favorite pub in all of Manhattan, Molly’s Shebeen.
Tottenham players after being embarrassed by Real Madrid
At Molly’s we had the pleasure of sitting alongside a couple of British ex-patriots and longtime lovers of the beautiful game. And though they were not Tottenham Hotspur supporters they took no pleasure in watching me suffer. Like most fans of football, they too have seen their respective clubs suffer at the hands of the world’s sporting giants, and even occasionally at the hands of a minnow or two. Neither supported one of England’s big clubs, so we listened attentively and laughed often as they waxed poetic of the glory days on the great rain-soaked pitch of their childhood.
Brendan Behan adorns Molly's Shebeen
If I were at home I probably would have been fit to be tied, but thanks to Molly’s, and the company of her staff and regulars, the days was a great one. I suppose the moral of the story is this is what makes a great pub. Atmosphere and conversation are just as important, if not more so, than food and drink. And even in your darkest sporting hours, the company of a few friends at a pub can always pull you through. Cheers gentlemen, and may Leicester City once again return to the Cup Final. Only this time, I know they will finally lift the trophy!
By Dave McBride
How I spent my Saint Patrick’s Day
Saint Patrick’s Day is certainly a fun day for me, but is also a very busy one. I make my living as a musician, and I have been known to sing more than a few Irish folk tunes in my day. So St. Patty’s Day, while certainly a fun celebration, is a big business day for me as well. This year, like the last few years, I spent it playing at an exemplary Irish pub in Cranford, NJ called the Kilkenny House.
St. Pattys Day crowd at the Kilkenny House spills out into the streets
First, let me just say I simply love this place. It is a true Irish pub, run by great people and frequented by regulars who love Irish music, good drink, and a great pub. On Saint Patrick’s Day it seems all the regulars come to celebrate at their favorite place and they each bring a dozen of their best friends with them! Needless to say the place was predictably packed, so much so that the crowd spilled out onto the the streets, soaking in the wonderful weather and the perfect pints.
Kilkenny Irish Cream Ale
Speaking of perfect pints, the Kilkenny House had a pleasantly welcome surprise for me on this most joyous of holidays. It seems the week before they received a few barrels of my favorite Irish beer, Kilkenny Irish Cream Ale. Like I said a couple of weeks ago on this blog, if you were able to find this brew at your Irish Pub of choice on Saint Patrick’s Day you should consider yourself luck. Well, thankfully that luck found me!
By Dave McBride
Countdown to St. Patty’s Day; Michael Collins, the man and the whiskey
What would be a St. Patty’s Day Countdown without a suggestion or two for the perfect Irish Whiskey to toast in the holiday? My personal favorite for just the right drop of the “water of life” is Michael Collins. (Well, let me clarify that and say “one” of my favorites! There is a reasonable chance this not the only whiskey to feature in our countdown.)
This fantastic whiskey comes from the “last independent distillery in Ireland”, the Cooley Distillery in County Louth on the northeast coast of the Republic of Ireland. Besides being very, very drinkable, Michael Collins is best known because it bares the name of one of Ireland’s greatest heroes and someone who should be remembered by all who celebrate during the Saint Patrick’s Day season.
Collins was born in West Cork in 1890 to a family of 8 children. He was the youngest of three sons and his father’s namesake. The young Michael was only six years old when his father died. On his deathbed, the elder Collins was said to have told his family the boy would one day do great things for Ireland, certainly a prophetic statement.
Michael Collins was among those who took part in the Easter Rising of 1916, the event that set in motion a pathway to Irish independence. In the years following the Rising, Collins rose to became a leader in the Republican movement. He led a successful underground guerilla war against the Crown, essentially crushing the British Intelligence forces in Ireland, and grew into a mythic figure in the process. He subsequently took part in the negotiations with the United Kingdom for Ireland’s independence. The treaty he signed, however, caused a split in the republican movement and a brutal civil war followed. Collins was shot and killed in the town of Beal na mBlath in his native County Cork in 1922.
Michael Collins may only have lived barely more than thirty years, but in that time he accomplished things most men could only dream to accomplish in a full lifetime. There is so much more about the “Big Fellow” I could say, but many authors have done a far better and more thorough job of telling his story than I ever possibly could. So instead I ask that this Saint Patrick’s Day you raise a glass with me, perhaps of Michael Collins Whiskey, and toast to one of Ireland’s great patriots.
By Dave McBride
Countdown to St. Pattys Day; a tribute to Luke Kelly
Today’s stop on Pub Talk’s Countdown to St. Patty’s Day takes us to the enchanting world of Irish music as we pay tribute to one of it’s iconic singers, Luke Kelly.
a portrait of Luke Kelly by Brendan Higgins
Luke Kelly was born in Dublin in 1940 and grew up in a working class family. He spent some of his early years as a musician in England, but returned to Dublin where he met the men who would soon become the Dubliners. The band made its start at the now famous O’Donoghue’s Pub sessions. I was told Kelly himself suggested the band name the group “The Dubliners” after the James Joyce book, but I don’t know that for certain. (Makes a great story though, if true)
Kelly had that combination of frustration and tenderness in his voice that somehow defines the very spirit of Dublin before the Celtic Tiger years. His delivery was no doubt one of passion and strength. But there was a palpable sincerity to him that few singers in any genre have ever repeated.
O'Donoghues Pub in Dublin
The Dubliners are a group that have been somewhat lost to the american Irish-folk scene, but perhaps that was not entirely an accident. I once heard the band’s fiddler John Sheahan explain how when they came to United States to play the Ed Sullivan Show. Sullivan refused to allow them to play their hit “Seven Drunken Nights”, a playful song with a lyric not befitting Sullivan’s famously stringent moral standards. The band played something else instead, but the experience convinced them that the States were just too stuffy for their brand of raucous pub music and they never really tried to break into the market again. In hindsight, it was probably the best decision they ever made because the Dubliners and Luke Kelly certainly didn’t need any restraints.
Rather than present a song from Luke Kelly himself or the Dubliners, I would like to present you with a wonderful tribute to Kelly by a great singer named Billy Mulligan. We presented Mulligan’s “Song for Luke Kelly” some time back on the APHR Jukebox. Click here and enjoy!
by Dave McBride
Pub Talk’s Countdown to St. Patty’s Day; Kilkenny Irish Cream Ale
Today, Pub Talk beings the countdown to our favorite holiday on the calendar, Saint Patrick’s Day. To get our readers ready for this fantastic day, we here at Pub Talk and the American Public House Review will present you will some suggestion on what to drink and where to drink it. (Safely and responsibly, of course.) And a few photos from the Emerald Isle.
Let us begin with a beer that may prove difficult to find in some parts of the United States, Kilkenny Irish Cream Ale. It seems to be in very limited release in the New World, but if you happen to come across this little liquid gem in your local Irish pub consider yourself lucky.
Kilkenny Ale is brewed in what is claimed to be the oldest operating brewery in Ireland, the Smithwick’s brewery in Kilkenny which has a brewing tradition that dates back to the 13th century. It is a “cream” ale and it pours in much the same way Boddington’s does, but it is has a color and taste along the lines of an amber ale like Smithwick’s. This combination creates a truly delicious brew.
Kilkenny is a staple on the Emerald Isle, as well as in Irish pubs in Canada and the United Kingdom. For years it was unavailable to thirsty Irish pub patrons in the USA. However, in 2009 it finally made it’s debut in the colonies at The Dubliner, Washington, D.C.’s most famous drinking hole. (And while we are at it let us add The Dubliner to our Pub Talk guide to St. Patty’s Day. It is a truly great Irish pub!)
For me, Kilkenny defined my drinking experience during my trip to Ireland. While it is certainly true Ireland’s pub’s are filled with great libations, including the best pint of Guinness you will ever find, whenever the bartender would ask for my order I seemed to always drift toward Kilkenny. Perhaps it was the novelty of having something I could not find back home, but I think it was more the flavor that was the attraction. It’s time to end the tragically limited release of this wonderful brew and bring it to the masses
by Dave McBride
Irish Music and a great Irish Pub
Few things in this world go together as well as traditional Irish music and a great Irish pub. Last month, those of us lucky enough to be in Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania got to see the fruits of such a great combination as the High Kings, one of Ireland’s best folk groups, played at Brittingham’s, a truly fine Irish pub.
The High Kings are Ireland’s latest “supergroup” of folk music, with all four members coming to the band with enormous resumes and impressive pedigree. Martin Furey and Finbarr Clancy come from perhaps the two most prominent families in Irish music history, while Brian Dunphy and Darren Holden joined the band after careers spanning from Ireland to Broadway and back again. Together they bring a new yet solidly traditional take on some of Ireland’s best known and loved folksongs.
The High Kings made their name in Irish music with a PBS special that is not at all representative of what the band is now. The polished performance of old has been replaced by what is now a raucous and romping Irish band. Yes, you will have to put the pint down every once in a while to clap or sing.
Last month they blew the doors off of Brittingham’s pub in Lafayette Hill, PA. The Kings played two fantastic shows for an eager crowd, and Brittingham’s provided just the right setting for the night. If you get a chance and are in the area, check out Brittingham’s.
And while you are there, take the few steps up the street to the General Lafayette Inn and Brewery, a terrific brewpub we featured in APHR.
Posted by: David McBride
