Is it last orders for the Irish pub?

Opinion: the demise of many original Irish pubs with unique histories, shopfronts and interiors is a threat to a disctinctive part of Irish heritage

Ireland's pubs are in decline. Figures published this week show that 2,000 pubs have closed in Ireland since 2005 and 450 have gone out of business since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. Despite the sector being a focal point for Ireland's tourism, some 152 pubs have shut each year, with rural areas most affected, for many external reasons, including high excise duties.

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From RTÉ Radio 1's Drivetime, John Clendennen from the Vintners Federation of Ireland on the number of pub closures in recent years

Closure doesn't just represent the loss of a small, possibly family-run, business and employment. It also means the demise of a social space for a neighbourhood, and potentially more dereliction on Irish streetscapes that are becoming increasingly abandoned. Many Irish traditional pubs appear so well preserved that they almost act as living museums and are significant to both our design heritage and the streets of Irish towns.

This all represents an existential threat to a unique part of Irish heritage. It’s easy for us to forget that many older, original Irish pubs have unique histories, shopfronts and interiors that provided the design template for pubs around the world.

What makes these older Irish pubs unique?

Despite the temptation to change décor over the years, these old pubs have remained largely unchanged from when they first opened in the 19th or early 20th century. In terms of furniture and interior design, they define what an Irish pub should be in decorative terms.

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Trailer for The Irish Pub, Alex Fegan's documentary on what makes the Irish pub the institution that it is

Particular types of older pubs are even more important, and could be argued to represent living cultural heritage. Those that have largely retained their original shopfronts and interiors to such an extent that they can act almost as interactive museums. If your grandfathers or uncles supped in them - or you reckon that they did - you can imagine their past by experiencing these places.

The unique character of traditional Irish pub interiors has led to them becoming one of our most successful design exports. Irish pubs in all corners of the globe mimic these older interiors and many contemporary pub fit out companies operate 'turn key' refurbishment services that do "traditional" so well many think they are original.

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From RTÉ Archives, Emma O'Kelly reports for RTÉ News in 1997 on the first Irish pub to open in China

Many aspects of what makes traditional Irish pubs so distinctive lies in their history. Changes to Irish licensing laws in the 19th century were designed to bring the various taverns and shebeens around the country into line. Changes to the laws affected the signage of Irish pubs which are more likely to contain the licensee’s name above the door.

Spirit-grocers began to appear in towns and villages, usually with a shopfront containing a central door flanked by a window each side. A bar counter ran on both sides of the interior, dividing bar and grocery. The grocery area typically had spice drawers, tea cannisters, a meat slicer and canned goods or jars and shelves. Some publicans also acted as undertakers, still common in some rural areas today.

Shopfronts

A basic interpretation of the neoclassical architectural style left an indelible mark on the look of Irish towns and villages. Shopfronts had proportion applied to spacing of windows and doors, with mullioned windows, cornice, entablature, corbels, fluting, plinth and so on. It was also a sombre style which helped public houses reflect their status of being respectable licensed members of the establishment. The shopfronts were usually brightly painted to make them stand out.

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From RTÉ Radio 1's The Business, Siofra Mulqueen reports on efforts to save old Irish shopfronts

Interiors

Pub interior walls were panelled with tongue and groove painted timbers. Lincrusta, a hardwearing wallcovering with deep embossed patterns, which was often applied to ceilings painted in dark colours, to hide tobacco smoke stains. Flagstone floors were common. In the years when tobacco-chewing and spitting was popular, it made sense to spread straw or sawdust. Longer bars were partitioned with wooden sections which figured glass panels, often with round headed ‘lights’.

The snug

Until the mid-20th century, pubs were male-only environments. While it was not against the law for women to enter them, no respectable woman would be seen drinking openly in a pub and some pubs would not serve women.

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To facilitate female customers, pubs that did serve women did so in snugs. The snug was a private partitioned area often with a hatch window to the bar, often with frosted glass. But snugs were not only for women. They also functioned as private areas, where meetings could take place. In heritage pubs, many snugs, lost in the late 20th century, have been reinstated in recent years.

What next?

Pubs were badly missed by many when Covid 19 restrictions were in place. As criticism mounted of the Government for keeping 'wet' pubs closed, the Taoiseach Micheál Martin told the Dáil that 'there's nothing I would like better right now than a pint in a rural pub in the west of Ireland'. The close and cosy pub environment of 'normal times' was the antithesis to the then public health advice.

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From RTÉ Brainstorm, what's next for the Irish pub after the changes caused by the pandemic?

It was assumed that fortunes would improve for this crucial part of Irish hospitality trade post pandemic, but that has turned out not to be the case. Instead, these businesses are threatened by a multifactorial existential crisis which could hasten the demise of Irish pubs. If they do not survive, they will be badly missed.

The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ