Anyone with an interest in Irish history, culture or drink need look no further than Alex Fegan’s (Man Made Men, Sliced) delightful documentary The Irish Pub.
The film itself is like the pubs it portrays—simple and unassuming on the outside, but warm, jovial and full of good craic (aka “fun”) once the door is opened. It begins with the famous lines of William Butler Yeats, “There are no strangers here, only friends that have not yet met.” By the film’s conclusion, the audience, too, may well wish not only for a few good pints, but for the company of these wonderful friends not yet met on the other side of the screen.
The Irish Pub captures the true essence of pub culture in Ireland, or perhaps what it used to be more in days gone by. The drinking is nearly secondary to the camaraderie found within the cluttered walls, a sort of liquid punctuation to the stories and songs shared between friends and families.
The film focuses on more than a dozen traditional historic pubs across Ireland, giving viewers a comfy seat as the individual stories unfold before them. As the publicans themselves tell it, these quaint drinking establishments are becoming more few and far between as time goes on and the modern world closes in. Yet the ones that remain are stubbornly faithful to keeping things exactly as they have been for generations, from the iconic corner “snugs” to the lack of TV sets or stereos mounted on the walls. Viewers see some of the old pubs that still operate small grocery stores, or even mortuaries, on the side and how they interact with the ever-present parish priests. It all stems from the tradition of small communities, and the very first interpretations of what a “one-stop shop” could be.