Outside the Vicarstown Bar, a man in a suit pauses at the threshold, engrossed in his newspaper before stepping fully inside. The chalkboard out front boasts a tempting “3 for 10 Handsum IPA” offer, hinting at the lively sessions that await within.

Yesterday evening, walking along a road in Edinburgh, I saw that the setting sun was casting long shadows, and as luck would have it, those make interesting subjects, especially the light and dark of sun and shadow. Hopefully, the person in the pub was having a nice evening in there, it was lovely being out.

Cork, May 2018.

A cat in a pub, in Amsterdam.

The Woodford on Patrick’s Street Cork closed some time ago. Shame really as it was a nice pub.

Jacob’s Bar in Baltimore, Co Cork. We never drank there but it looked busy and inviting. Evening was too cold to stay outside though.

Wild Woodbine, an advert in Cronins Pub, sits under the counter. The pub is full of memorabilia which adds atmosphere but I suppose they were probably bought in a dusty warehouse full of such things for the tourists. Very nice pub though.

The door to the lounge in Cronin’s Pub in Crosshaven, Co Cork. Nice pub, had many a relaxing cup of tea there with the family after a walk around the town.

When you come to Ireland you go looking for a Guinness don’t you? Well, if you’re in Cork, you must try local stouts, Beamish or Murphy’s. I’m not a big fan of any of them but the Cork stouts are sweeter than Guinness, and nicer IMO. Signs in Blackpool, Cork.

Carvery Lunch, the fast food of “proper food” IMO. Many will be going to pubs today for their Sunday lunch and it’ll be carvery on offer. Nothing wrong with it of course, but some people are snobs about eating out and want food delivered to their table. Considering the price of carvery food, I can…

Pete McCarthy wrote a great book called, McCarthy’s Bar: A Journey of Discovery In Ireland which I and my wife have both read through and enjoyed immensely. Unfortunately Pete died in 2004 after being diagnosed with cancer but this book and his second are well worth reading. I just noticed the discrepancy between the spelling…

The Western Star in Cork was a favourite haunt of UCC students for many a year but now it looks like it’ll be demolished! Looks like development has been on the cards for quite a while: Permission was granted to Tom O’Riordan carry out development namely, permission for part demolition of existing public house and…