WATER THE CHANCES OF A GHOST PUTTING OUT FIRE IN OUR PUB
Irish landlord believes spook saved the day
AN Irishman believes a ghost saved his restaurant from burning to the ground.
Neville Gardner, who runs Mccarthy’s Red Stag Pub and Whiskey Bar in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, said his eatery escaped with minor damage when clothing caught fire in a utility room.
But spookily, the flames ruptured a water pipe which doused the flames.
The boozer is expected to be shut for up to a week while repair works are carried out.
Neville said: “Something got left too close to it, like a dirty laundry bag of rags that were going back to be laundered.
“It caught fire, but the great part was that the waterline right above it ruptured and put the fire out.”
He thanks the ghost of Liesel Boeckel, the daughter of Georg Friedrich Boeckel who owned the property during the Revolutionary War.
In 1777, Liesel and her mum Barbara helped nurse Marquis de Lafayette, who was recuperating in Bethlehem after being injured during the Battle of Brandywine.
Neville added: “We’ve had various sorts of poltergeist things happen since I opened in 1996 … So we’re putting it down to Liesel.”
He said first responders just found smoke when they arrived.
He added: “Fortunately the alarm system off and the fire company got here really quick and had one of those keys to the building from the outside so they were able to get in quickly.” The Antrim man moved to the US in 1979 and has been credited with attracting more than 200,000 people to Bethlehem via his pub and a festival.
The Celtic Classic Festival is a cultural event designed to educate the local community about Ireland that recently marked its 36th year.
Neville’s mission was to “positively influence” the conflict in the North by showing how “the two sides could celebrate each other’s cultures” even in the US.
He added: “It’s important to teach people about the different Celtic countries and how we’re all the same.
“Everyone should be treated equally no matter where they come from.”