The Pubs of Cork: ‘This is what people envisage when they think of an Irish pub’

What are the ingredients for a top-notch pub?

In the case of Eileen’s Bar in Kilcrohane, it’s the glow of the open turf fire and the gleam on the ancient brass bell that’s used to call time, or to quieten this 300-year-old pub for a regular’s party piece.

It’s the old slate floor, the traditional music sessions, the local eggs, honey and potatoes on sale, the gorgeous old bar, and the flower-filled churns outside the red front door.

It’s Eileen Lehane, the cheerful, gregarious landlady behind the bar, who knows everyone from here to Kingdom Come and never forgets a face.

It’s the welcoming exterior with its scatter of bright, painted furniture, the outdoor reading room complete with books, and the cheerful beer garden around the side that hosts every kind of celebration, from a wedding to a christening.

And let’s not forget The Parlour, where flame-haired singer, song-writer and folklorist Lisa Lambe last summer performed her acclaimed show Nightvisiting, before a spell-bound audience.

Eileen’s Bar is nestled near to the banks of a stream in the village of Kilcrohane on the Sheep’s Head Peninsula amid some of the most heart-rendingly beautiful landscapes that the Wild Atlantic Way can offer.

This bar is the real thing. A gem.

“It’s like stepping into the past; it’s a lovely typical old Irish country pub,” Eileen says.

Local resident and pub regular Elaine Spillane echoes her: “That’s what people love about it. This pub is what people think of when they think of a traditional Irish pub.”

Every Sunday after Mass in the nearby church, regulars call in to Eileen’s for a mug of tea or coffee and a slice of cake, for which, Elaine reveals, Eileen Lehane has yet to take a penny.

“Eileen is a great personality. She never forgets a face and the village wouldn’t be the same without her,” adds Elaine, 70, who compares the little pub to “a shining beacon in the dark of winter.”

“It’s a meeting place for locals, for walkers and for visitors, and it’s a great place to walk into on a Friday.

“My favourite thing about it is that often there’s someone playing there and afterwards we have a sing-song and sometimes a dance to the music as well! We all have a party piece that we sing.

“The pub is the heart of the village. It’s great for walkers too; you could have 30 walkers in there at weekends and the walkers often have great musicians amongst them.

“A lot of them come from walking clubs in the city and stay at the Bridgeview and enjoy a drink in Eileen’s Bar,” adds Elaine. “It just draws people in!”

The pub has been part of Eileen’s life since the age of eight or nine.

A native of the village, the 66-year-old says she was literally reared in the pub, which was owned by her grandmother’s stepbrother.

“I moved into the pub with my grandmother to take care of the poor man when he became ill with cancer.”

Eileen moved away to work, but in her early thirties, when the pub, then known as Fitzpatrick’s, came up for lease in 1991, she moved home and took it on.

She remembers a time when there were several pubs in and around Kilcrohane‘.

“There was the White House pub just outside the village, the Bayview down the road from my own pub, and a bar in what was the Dunmahon Hotel.”

Eileen’s Bar has always been a pub. “It’s held a licence going back about 300 years,” she says.

“The open fire is a big feature of the pub. It’s a traditional turf fire. We get a lot of hikers who like nothing more than to sit at the fire drying off and having a pint.”

A painting of the pub, dating from the mid-1970s, shows horses outside the door belonging to farmers en route to the local creamery, cattle being driven down the road, and Eileen herself, packing bottles along with several members of the family and some neighbours.

Eileen bought the business in March, 2020, two days before the country came to a standstill for the covid lockdown.

“On a winter’s evening, the great fire and Eileen’s welcome and her kindness to children makes it a very friendly place,” comments local farmer Seamus Daly.

“Eileen’s is the venue for all local milestones, from proposals to funerals and everything in between” observes Daly, a pub regular for the past 50 years.

Friday nights are always busy, summer or winter, as people pile in to enjoy the performances of traditional musicians who play in the bar every summer Sunday, from 6pm to 9pm.

The bar also hosts a lot of social and charity fundraising events.

“People bring their own food and music for birthdays, christenings or weddings,” says Eileen. “We also provide a venue for funeral get-togethers.

“Every August, I hold a big fundraiser for the Bantry hospice. That’s very close to my heart. It’s one of several over the year,” she says, adding that the bar is also involved in many annual local events like the Kilcrohane Summer Carnival and the Easter festival, which features the highly popular Ceol on the Coast.

Like everywhere else in the country, the cost and availability of holiday accommodation in the area is an increasing problem.

“A lot of rental accommodation has moved into private ownership,” explained Eileen.

“The cost of rent means people are looking at paying a fair whack to rent a holiday home in the village and surrounding areas during the summer months - and that’s before they get a bite to eat, or have a drink out, or take the kids to the pool in Bantry.”

The challenge of keeping a small pub going is unremitting. “Pub owners have fierce rates to pay. You have high water and electricity bills, you’re keeping the fire going with wood, coal and turf,” says Eileen.

“Electricity prices have gone to hell. The beer is working 24-7; the cooler is plugged in day and night.

“Running a pub has become very expensive. You have an awful lot to pay upfront before you even sell a pint.”

Eileen’s not ready to throw in the towel just yet though. “I’ll keep going for a few more years. I’ll probably hand it on to the next generation when the time comes.”