The Pubs of Cork: 'The bar is like another Men's Shed in the town'

Best friends and business partners, Gary Johnston and Brian McCarthy, operate an open-door policy in their pub, The Maple Leaf in Midleton.

“The local older gentlemen like availing of our open-door policy,” says Gary, originally from Dublin, now living in Midleton.

“All they have to do any morning from 10.30am onwards, is to push in the front door. The Maple Leaf is like another Men’s Shed!”

As we speak, a customer, John, pushes open the pub door carrying his bag of messages.

“How are you doing, John?” says Gary. “Will I put your messages in the fridge for you?”

Obviously, this is not an unusual request as John hands over his shopping bag without question and settles into his familiar spot in the bar.

“Nice to meet you too, Missus,” says John, as I sip a freshly brewed coffee with Gary, who tells me how he came to be in East Cork and open the popular Main Street premises with Brian.

“My mother is from Killeagh,” says Gary. “During my summer holidays I came to East Cork to stay with my aunt where she was farming in Ballinacurra. I had a huge draw to farming.”

Gary went to agricultural college and then started work in the Midleton meat factory, where he met Brian, who is from Midleton. The two men formed a close friendship.

“We both played rugby,” says Gary. “And we became great friends.

“I worked in the meat factory wheeling and dealing and organising transportation. I enjoyed it all.”

Is wheeling and dealing in his genes?

“My mother’s father was a cattle dealer, so yes, maybe it is in the genes!”

Dawn Meats then took over the Midleton meat factory and Gary says: “That prompted Brian and I to go into business together, and we bought this pub from Billy and Theresa Walshe in 1994. I can’t believe that was 32 years ago.

“I remember thinking, what the hell are we doing, when the pub went up for sale and Brian and I decided to buy it.”

Apart from their shared love of sport, the two friends value community connections.

“Our barman, Jack, is a great asset to us,” says Gary. “He has a word for everyone, and he operates all aspects of the bar very well.

“My wife, Mary, helps out too part-time, and when we did food, she was very busy in the kitchen.

“Brian was a dab hand in the kitchen too and we employed a chef. We were famous in town for our bangers and mash, and half toastie and cup of soup.

“After covid, we didn’t continue doing food. It changed things. I miss the food trade in a way. We had great fun and craic during the busy lunchtimes.”

Another enthusiastic part-timer often lends a hand in the bar.

“My granddaughter, who is 13, comes in when she’s on holidays from school,” says Gary. “She helps stack the bottles on the shelves and empties the bottle bins. I can’t wait until she is 16 so that I can make more use of her!”

Not surprisingly, given Brian and Gary’s rugby background, The Maple Leaf is sports- orientated.

“We show the live games on our big screens, rugby, golf, soccer, GAA, and of course, the World Cup. Our Sky package is a huge success.

“I remember the place being jointed at 7am in the morning when the World Cup was on in 2002. Drinking pints that early was a very unusual occurrence!”

More than three decades in business is a mighty achievement. Did the close friends ever fall out?

“Never!” says Gary. “We may have had a minor disagreement or two in the beginning, but we never fell out.”

What stands out most for Gary during those 32 years?

“The fabulous friends that we have made along the way,”he says. “We have been to friends’ weddings, their christenings, their parents’ funerals. They are part of our family, both Brian’s and mine.

“We have the same friends for 32 years. We got to know their children and their grandchildren. In fact, many of them worked here as students.

“We like seeing the students progressing in their careers and we keep tabs on them even when they have left us.”

Gary’s memory serves him well.

“We had one great customer,” he says, “He had the habit of disappearing into the gents for 30 seconds whenever he felt disgruntled.

“The staff and some of our regular customers had great fun seeing who could get him to head to the loo!”

The bar is known locally for its early starts. Who are his early birds?

“They tend to be more elderly people who come in for a chat and to socialise,” says Gary.

“They like the company. The kettle is always on.”

There is always a welcome on the mat at The Maple Leaf.

“Friends enjoy playing music together once a month on Wednesday nights,” says Gary.

“Everyone enjoys the music and the singing, and everyone joins in.”

Did anyone famous ever come in?

“Enda Kenny visited us,” says Gary.

What was his tipple?

“Club Orange!” says Gary laughing.

“London girl Chantelle Cameron who handed Katie Taylor her first professional defeat in 2023, called in when she was visiting friends in Midleton. I couldn’t believe how petite she was.”

He didn’t keep her on to act as bouncer at the door?

Gary enjoys the cráic.

“No need,” he says laughing. “Our customers are very well behaved and always in good form.”

And if they aren’t?

“A neighbouring publican, Niall, gave me good advice on that score,” says Gary.,

“He said always go by your gut if you think trouble might be brewing. If you get the butterflies interacting with someone, then pay attention before anything untoward happens in the bar. It works.”

Good conversation, like a good pint of Guinness, flows in the bar.

“Lads could get talking to one another even for ten minutes, and after that short time, discover that they are related to each other!” says Gary.

Connection between people happens organically. “Customers can be sitting at opposite ends of the bar and if they go to the beer garden for a cigarette, they come back in chatting and sitting down together. They have become buddies outside in that short space of time.”

The Maple Leaf has been good to Gary and Brian and their families.

“The pub has provided a good living for all of us in the last 32 years,” says Gary.

“We always had great support from the people of Midleton.

“Yes, there were a few ups and downs like when the recessions hit, when covid hit. The rising cost of fuel and the rising cost of overheads proved challenging.

“I remember at the time we built on, I was terrified. I thought is this a joke? We actually renovated the whole place twice. Our first major overhaul was done before the Tour de France in 1998, an incredible event.”

It was no joke, and the beer garden is a great success where people mingle and take in the evening sun enjoying a cold drink, a soft drink, or a freshly brewed coffee.

And it was no joke when the floods hit in October, 2023, and Storm Babet wreaked havoc in the East Cork town.

“Prior to that we had never been flooded,” says Gary.

“We got a fair shock. Some fright. It was a mess, no electricity. We thought we’d leave the clean up until the following day, but I met an engineer friend of mine on the street, and he said it would be worse the next day.

“Word got around. In 20 minutes, there were 20 people here with squidgy mops ready to clean up. Youngsters going to school the next day stopped in and asked could they do anything to help? The community spirit was just amazing.”

Gary is content with life, after so long in the pub trade.

“It is a way of life,” he says. “I’m 63. Brian is 59. We enjoy having family time out too.”

The close friends are in it for the long haul.

“For another 10 years at least!”