Readers say ‘cheers’ as Cork institutions highlighted in new book on Irish pubs
Late and lamented, The Sextant is one of the Cork pubs featured in 'The Irish Pub'. Picture: Joe Healy
A new book from Cork University Press asks the vital question: When and how was the Irish pub invented?
With the Irish pub now a worldwide phenomenon, examines its humble 17th century beginnings and its evolution into a global symbol of Irishness, as well as looking at how has it come to occupy a central position in our drama, poetry, novels, art and design.
The books asks whether the pub remains a crucial part of the Irish community, or if it has been usurped by the coffee shop and the gym.
A Cork focus comes from contributor Tom Spalding, who teaches at the Munster Technological University, and is the author of several books on design history, specialising on Cork city, where he has lived for many years.
Alongside co-contributor Gwen Scarbrough, he draws on his deep knowledge of the city and on interviews conducted personally and by the Cork Folklore Project overseen by University College Cork.
Using local Cork pubs as a case study exploring the relationship between gender and Irish pubs. Spalding and Scarbrough highlight local institutions such as Callanan’s, The Castle Inn, Cissie Young’s, The Long Valley and the former Sextant.
This is the first book-length academic study of Irish pubs, and academic and field experts across the fields of history, literature, sociology, psychology, music, architecture and the field of food and drink studies interrogate the many ways the Irish pub has been invented and reinvented over the centuries.
It offers hidden histories, inside stories, new perspectives and perceptive analyses, such as the role of female publicans, gay social life in early 20th century, diasporic Irish pubs and interviews from pub-owners and goers.
From Dublin’s Long Hall to Oliver’s Place in Lapland, it draws on the experiences of hundreds of Irish pubs, both those celebrated and those obscure, to provide a complex picture of the global phenomenon that is the Irish pub.
is edited by Moonyoung Hong and Perry Share.
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