THE BANSHEES BOOZER FINDS A NEW HOME
ON THE SUBJECT OF PUBS, THE WATERING HOLE FROM THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN IS NOW OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. AND YES, IT’S DONKEY-FRIENDLY
IF YOU QUITE fancied a pint in the pub from The Banshees Of Inisherin, you could be in luck. With filming long wrapped on last year’s Oscar nominee, JJ Devine’s no longer stands on Achill Island with that extraordinary coastline outside, nor does it welcome Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson daily. It has, however, been rescued and reopened in Kilkerrin, Co.galway.
“My wife’s sister’s husband was working as security on the film,” explains the pub’s new owner, Luke Mees. “He asked if he could hold onto the pub, just for the timber value.” Those dismantled building parts were still in a field months later when Mees, who had fallen in love with the film, decided to find out what had become of JJ Devine’s. Soon he found himself driving to the island to pick up the pieces. “I got out and it looked like a bonfire, just a big pile,” he remembers. “It was misty and grey and dark, and I wondered if I’d gone daft in the head. I didn’t know if anyone would have any interest.”
Mees pieced the elements back together in a building behind his existing pub and invited a local donkey, Holly, to his grand opening for the full Banshees effect. “It would be unkind to have the donkey there all the time, during a busy night,” he laughs. “Give someone enough to drink and they’d decide it’s a good idea to go for a ride.” He does confirm, however, that Holly has a favourite tipple: “She loves Guinness! If you leave multiple drinks on the table, she goes for the Guinness.”
The story has gone around the world, and Mees has had supportive messages from Brendan Gleeson and Pat Shortt, who played the film’s pub owner, Jonjo Devine. Now he’s waiting for a visit from Taylor Swift, who said in an interview with Banshees director Martin Mcdonagh that she longed to go for a drink in the film’s pub and who now has a standing invitation to a free pint. If it helps, Mees says, “We have had musicians in and the acoustics are perfect, with the low ceiling.” Maybe Gleeson’s Colm was onto something when he chose playing music in the pub over a chat with Colin Farrell’s Pádraic.