Rich fabric of Irish life seen through pub lens
SINCE the start of lockdown, our lives as we know it have been parked in cold storage.
That’s only right and proper in the face of the biggest health crisis to face the world since the outbreak of the Spanish flu over a century ago.
Protection of life, protecting frontline workers, protecting our family, friends and neighbours comes first and last.
In the weeks of lockdown however we have seen our extraordinary response to the crisis, helping each other out, fundraising locally and nationally.
While some TV viewers will be grateful that the Late Late Show has finished for this season, as the empty studio and zoom interviews with celebrities at home and abroad were quite dreadful to watch, the manner in which the show was used as a fundraising platform for national charities hit by the lockdown was quite extraordinary, as was the response of the Irish public who opened their hearts and their wallets and purses in an amazing manner, donating hundreds of thousands of euro each and every week to chairities such as Pieta House, St Vincent de Paul and many, many more.
During the course of lockdown this newspaper has introduced many new features such as our weekly focus on many of the towns well-known pubs.
Apart from the tales of craic and great ancedotes from the owners and staff what has shone out from those pieces is the charitable initiatives these pubs run and which are a fabric of their premises.
Yes of course, the events bring in the punters, but they raise vital funds for small local charities and good causes, such as Aoibheann’s Pink Tie which benefits from events held in Lily’s Finegan’s in Whitestown, the pub featured in this week’s edition.
IRISH PUB LIFE IS NOT JUST ABOUT THE DRINK, IT IS MUCH MORE THAN THAT, AS WE HAVE BEEN REMINDED
Last week it was the Castle Bar from the days of Dessie and Kay Corbett who again ran many charitable events and opened their doors every year to Dundalk ladies upon their return from the Ladies Mini Marathon, an event of itself which raises huge money for charities locally, nationally and internationally.
The fabric of Irish life, our enjoyment of the craic, our close-knit community and our big hearts runs right through those simple nostaglic pieces on many pubs around the town and beyond.
That is why we have to get back to our normal way of living, as soon as the experts deem it safe. We all have a viewpoint on when that will be or should be, but the experts know best.
Irish pub life is not just about the drink, it is much more than that, as we have been reminded.