Heard the one about the seven student priests out on a stag do?
SEVEN seminarians were initially barred from the City Arms in Cardiff on Saturday as the landlord thought they were on a stag do, despite insisting their clothes were not fancy dress.
But they managed to get their celebratory pints on the house after the manager realised they were genuine priests.
Father Michael Doyle said the group of seven went to the pub in Quay Street to celebrate the ordination of Father Peter Mclaren at Cardiff Metropolitan Cathedral of St David, near Queen Street. It was a double celebration because Fr Mclaren was the second to be ordained to the priesthood in a week.
He added that the City Arms was a favourite of his colleagues including George Stack, Archbishop of Cardiff.
Fr Doyle said: “They arrived at the City Arms and they were dressed wearing the clerical collar. The doorman basically said something along the lines of, ‘sorry gents, we have a policy of no fancy dress and no stag dos’.”
The doorman was good-natured but firm, and the students had started to leave when they were approached by the bar manager.
“He basically said, ‘you’re real, aren’t you?’,” said Fr Doyle. “He invited them back in and when they walked back in the entire pub burst into a round of applause, and they had a free round.”
Fr Doyle said the group stayed in the pub most of the afternoon chatting to locals, and also discovered that one of them shares the name of one of Brains brewery’s most popular ales.
He said: “Rev Rob James decided to buy the barman a drink and, of course, one of the Brains beers in Wales is the Reverend James, so the Reverend Robert James bought a Rev James for him.”
Matt Morgan, City Arms assistant manager, said: “At first one of our staff members thought the group was a stag party in fancy dress and suggested they might want to try another pub as we generally have a quieter crowd of drinkers than others nearby.
“When we realised our mistake we quickly apologised. Thankfully they were all great sports and saw the funny side. It’s not every day you have a group of priests drinking in the pub and they would be welcome back any time.”
Fr Doyle said such mix-ups were not uncommon. He added that the incident was “funny” and “just gold” and that the seminarians had not been put off returning to the pub.