The Village Pubs of Cork: ‘There’s character in the walls here’

This week in our popular weekly series, The Village Pubs Of Cork, NOEL SWEENEY heads to The Blackbird in Ballycotton, where the landlord tells him it is “a Cork pub” where music and the Irish language flourish
The Village Pubs of Cork: ‘There’s character in the walls here’

A match made in business heaven, Mossie Tattan, from The Blackbird, and Fiona McNamara, of The Trawler Boys, checking the books at the pub in Ballycotton. Picture: Noel Sweeney

The Blackbird is a family-run pub situated along the main thoroughfare of one of Cork’s most picturesque maritime villages, Ballycotton. It caters to locals, passers-by, and even the odd celebrity.

In folklore, a blackbird can be symbolic of many things and in Ireland it is associated with transformation and rebirth. A fitting name over the door of this business; the building dates back to the 1820s and has seen numerous incarnations, as a pub and at one stage as a hotel.

Its homely exterior suggests that inside you’ll find good stout and a snug or two. And you will. But there’s more to The Blackbird than its homely exterior hints at.

Inside, there’s a touch of the well-seasoned rickety pub about it. A step up here; a step down there; a nook here; a cranny there. There’s an L-shaped bar with plenty of taps and the shelves are stocked with a healthy selection of wines, spirits and most anything else you fancy.

Beyond all that, at The Blackbird folk nights, seafood and language evenings serve the music, foodie and Irish-speaking communities.

Mossie Tattan met me as he dealt with a keg delivery. He and his brothers John and Michael took on The Blackbird in 2011, after a ten-month closure. “It was called An Lon Dubh before that which is Irish for The Blackbird, but we changed it because Americans or Germans wouldn’t have known what it meant.” Mossie explains

Mossie Tattan from The Blackbird. 	Picture: Noel Sweeney
Mossie Tattan from The Blackbird. Picture: Noel Sweeney

The licence is still that of a pub and a hotel.

“There’s actually a hotel licence written on it,” Mossy says. “People used to come to Ballycotton to recover. Doctors would say, go down for the salt water and the fresh air.”

Out back, there is a beer garden and a glass-fronted function space with four long dining tables that Mossie calls the ruin-room. It was once a ruined building in a cobbled courtyard with a post office, a sweet shop, and a fish smoker. “It was like a little market,” Mossy says. “Coal merchants, smoked fish, smoked ham, a market with all the bits going on. There’s character in the walls here.”

Prior to 2011, Mossie’s background was as a DJ. “I worked at Gigi’s in Youghal, The Park, a few bits around Midleton. We said we’d take The Blackbird on, it’s a local bar, and we’re locals, so why wouldn’t we?”

From the off, he wanted it to be a music pub with high standards. “No backing tracks, no drum machines,” he laughs, but adds: “If you’re playing here, you have to be able to play.”

The bar hosts live gigs every Saturday night and Sunday evening, drawing an impressive mix of acts. “We’ve had Liam Reilly of Bagatelle, Mundy is here fairly regularly, Freddie White, Juliet Turner, Mick Hanley… and loads of local musicians. Gina and the Champions have done a few great nights here too.”

The Blackbird is home to The Ballycotton Folk Club, on the third Thursday of the month. It comprises singer/songwriter, poetry and storytelling. “It started with five or six people and now you could have 25 musicians in the room, just playing and singing. They come from all over, Dungourney, Bandon, Cork city. It’s all about people getting together.”

On Wednesday nights, an Irish-speaking group gathers to practice the cúpla focal.

“We’re promoting Irish through our own GAA club, Russell Rovers,” adds Mossie. “It’s for people who learned Irish in school but never got to use it. Last week we had 43 people down in the room, chatting away in Irish, learning, laughing, it’s great.”

He says. “You hear it out on the streets now - Dia dhuit, Conas atá tú, Go maith, and that’s something we’re really proud of,” he says.

Food only became part of The Blackbird’s offering about a decade ago, when Mossy installed a kitchen behind the bar. “We lifted it in over the roof,” he laughs. “We were the first ones to do food here.”

That side of the business is run by Fiona McNamara and her team at The Trawler Boys, who are well known for sourcing locally. “They’re in from eight in the morning, prepping fish from Ballycotton. No processed food. Just fresh, honest stuff,” says Mossie.

He and his brothers focus on the bar while The Trawler Boys look after the restaurant and the customers who spill out into the courtyard and the Ruin Room, “It takes 50 or 60 people in there. We’re getting popular for day twos of weddings day, birthdays,” he explains.

While Ballycotton draws people from all over, Mossie likes to run The Blackbird as a bar that celebrates Cork. “We’re a Cork bar,” he says proudly. “We promote Murphy’s and Beamish, we promote Irish whiskey, especially Jameson. They’re Cork products, they employ Cork people.”

As well as locals and tourists, The Blackbird has served pints to some well-known names.

“Back in the ’90s, Divine Rapture was filmed around here, Brando, Johnny Depp, Debra Winger, they were all drinking in Ballycotton,” Mossy recalls. “Leonard Cohen, Gabriel Byrne, and John Hurt have all been through the door at some point.”

More recently, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and broadcaster Vanessa Feltz have dropped by.

The Trawler Boys, who provide fresh produce at The Blackbird, Fiona, Ronan, and Patrick McNamara, and Jim Hallinan. Picture: Noel Sweeney
The Trawler Boys, who provide fresh produce at The Blackbird, Fiona, Ronan, and Patrick McNamara, and Jim Hallinan. Picture: Noel Sweeney

Dogs are welcome too. “We’re totally dog- friendly,” says Mossie. “We used to have a sign on the door that said, ‘Hello dogs, we hope your owners are attached to the lead’. Some people might only have a dog in their life, and this gives them somewhere they can come, have lunch, watch the match, and not leave the dog behind.”

Mossie cites the backbone of The Blackbird’s success as Ballycotton itself. “You just can’t price how good Ballycotton is to our bar,” he says. “It’s a destination. The cliff walk, the lighthouse, the sea air, it’s all part of it.”

He relays how locals often drive down the pier late at night, look out at the lighthouse, and only then go home to bed. “Just to see it. It’s like checking the heart of the village is still beating,” he says.

In Ballycotton, the businesses work together without the sense of competition,

“We all work together; Mike across the road (The Schooner) , Sean (Sean McGrath’s), Sea Church ,” Mossy says.

Though not immune to the challenges faced by publicans - rising wages, VAT, and the growing costs of keeping rural bars going - he remains positive.

“You just open the doors and get on with it. We’ve got music 52 weeks a year, and great staff. People keep coming back, because it’s The Blackbird, sure, but it’s also Ballycotton.”

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