'We bought our local pub': The little North Cork village that could

It’s not often drinkers are led into a pub to the skirl of bagpipes. But then this is no ordinary pub.

Cullen, with a population of less than 400, used to have five pubs, three shops, a creamery, petrol station and a post office.

All of them have closed and the lights were turned off in the last remaining pub nearly two years ago.

It went up for sale and a group of like-minded locals got together, determined to buy the pub and reopen it for the community.

It's not primarily a business venture, but the creation of a social hub for the community. And all the investors know there are risks to their investments.

To achieve their aim, they set up a limited liability company. It has five directors and 38 named shareholders.

To get a shareholding, a €10,000 payment was required. Some individuals paid that in full. Others, including friends and families, clubbed together to get one of the shares. That brought in €380,000.

John Walsh, one of the directors, said when they initiated the project last November they “knew the vibes were good.” 

He said that when all the money was collected, they purchased the premises, along with its licence, for €290,000.

“We’d to pay a further €10,800 in stamp duty and legal fees of just over €4,000,” 

he said.

They then had to spend around €24,000 on a new ‘eco-friendly’ cooling room and beer lines and got a grant of €10,000 towards this from Cork County Council. 

They were also given some sponsorship from Guinness and Heineken.

Another director, Linda Ryan, was quick to praise local farmers, electricians, plumbers and carpenters who worked voluntarily to do up the bar.

“The momentum has been fantastic. People want to reconnect with traditional values,” she said.

The local GAA Club is now undertaking some redevelopment and has lodged a planning application to open a community shop at its facilities.

The Tigh Laitrain pub has just reopened and it has been rocking ever since, with a mixture of all age groups.

Its bar manager is 27-year-old Aine Breen. She has a law degree and once worked as a teacher in Dubai. Now she’s got great ambitions to ensure the pub has a sustainable future.

“I liked the passion behind the project and the community aspect of it. It’s so nice to see the people of Cullen coming together and achieving this goal,” 

she said.

The bar opens at 5.30pm on weekdays, 3pm on Saturdays (although earlier if an important match is on its big screen TV) and 12.30pm on Sundays.

But Aine knows there’s bound to be a drop-off in trade at some stage, so plans are being put in place to negate this. 

They’re organising work parties, 45 card drives, quizzes, bingo, karaoke and pool tournaments and more family-friendly events, like a Taylor Swift dance party for the children.

Joe Crowley, 77, and a friend of his put in €5,000 each to buy a share.

“When I was in England, we did something similar in 1987 to keep a pub open in North London. I came back home eight years ago and drank in this pub (in Cullen) until it closed two years ago. 

"If I lost all my money on this in the morning, I wouldn’t give a dam. I would be happy enough to get no money out of it,” Joe said.

Pat Fleming, chairman of the local Féile committee, said the development is part of “a shared vision giving hope for the future to the community.” 

He believes the government must wake up to the plight of rural pubs and subsidise taxis for people to support them, especially older members of the population who live in social isolation.

One of those visiting the newly-opened bar was Mayor of County Cork Fianna Fáil councillor Bernard Moynihan. He lives in the nearby village of Kiskeam, which is lucky to have two pubs.

“This has been a huge success, and it shows the power of people getting together to do something to improve their community," he said.

"A lot of people living here are now working remotely and they have more time on their hands to help out with local projects because they’re not having to make long commutes to work,” he said.

He said he’s hopeful that places like Cullen will be able to grow again if, as expected, the government relaxes planning guidelines on building one-off rural homes.

Derek Morley of the local tidy towns organisation and his volunteers can take a bow. The village is spotless.

He’s also hopeful that this is the start of a major regeneration of Cullen.

Derek said that many young people have had to leave the community because they were refused planning permission.

“A generation has been lost here because of this,” he added.

Con Houlihan, 72, played the bagpipes and led people into the pub. He’s head of the internationally-renowned Cullen Pipe Band. They won the world pipe band championships in 2007 and are gearing up in the hope of recapturing that title in Glasgow on August 15.

“When the pub closed two years ago, people outside of Cullen told me this community was strong and would be back. I think what’s happened here is absolutely revolutionary,” 

he said.

Damian Hickey, another of the directors, said after this newspaper first published the story last November that locals were hoping to reopen the bar, he was contacted by John O’Connor of the very successful Idle Hour pub in Cork city.

“He wanted to help us. His parents came from nearby Kiskeam and he said he felt that rural Ireland was being left behind and offered any help he could give us. He steered us in the right direction with the breweries and provided us with valuable contacts,” Damian said.

John put them in touch with a friend of his, Tom Barry from Old Quarter accountants in Ballincollig.

“He helped us set up the company within three weeks, at a reduced rate. Both were a great help from the start. They’ve been unbelievable. The two boys are still ringing me constantly to see how we’re getting on. It’s great,” Damian said.

What was a dream last November is now a reality and those behind the Cullen venture are hoping other villages which have lost all their pubs will learn from what they’ve done.