SEPTEMBER is always a strange month for me. Like many people who cross the Irish Sea to go to university, I left home on a cold September morning 18 years ago and arrived in Glasgow. I’m now nearly as long in Glasgow as I was in Ireland. It wasn’t my first time in Glasgow, as I had already travelled many times for the football, so I knew what to expect. However, this was very different because I wasn’t heading home to my bed after a match.
I settled into life very easy. The first weekend I was over was around the time of the All-Ireland Final and I remember heading to Waxy O’Connor’s to watch the game. As I sat down to watch the final—that I think Kerry won—I was handed a leaflet by Jimmy Caplice inviting me to come and play Gaelic football. I spoke to Jimmy throughout the game and told him I hadn’t kicked a ball in a few years, but he said to me to come out for a bit of craic what harm could it do? The irony of that after a broken finger, broken nose and pulled hamstring is lost now!
The very next Sunday I was out in Pearse Park in Cambuslang kicking a ball about. It was mostly students as the season had ended, but we all headed to Fáilte in the city centre afterwards to meet the ladies team and enjoy a Sunday session. My love affair with Irish pubs in Glasgow was born that day. Playing university football always meant a trip to the pub (or pubs) afterwards—Fáilte, the Gallowgate The Brazen Head and sometimes rounded off by ending up in O’Neills until 3am. Over the years, I got to know bar staff, bands and the owners of some these bars, and I’ve been very lucky to remain in contact with a number of these people as many are still in the industry.
Sadly, the Sunday sessions are not as popular as they once were. The credit crunch, followed by austerity, followed by the Covid-19 pandemic, followed by a cost of living crisis has meant that people don’t have the money to go out as much.
In the process of writing this, I’ve had to go back and edit it, because since starting it, two well-known bars in Glasgow have called time. One of them is a bar I spent many a great Sunday in—the Squirrel. Fáilte is long gone, as is O’Neill’s and although new places have also opened, I fear that many good and well-run bars could disappear if help for publicans isn’t given soon. Rising overheads is killing the industry I love and the hard-working people that I have welcomed with a smile and/or a listening ear might not be there in a few months.
I remember just after Covid-19 how happy everyone was to get back to the pub and I never want to lose that feeling. So, it is with a very heavy heart that I cant give you a cocktail recipe today to do at home, but instead leave you with a plea to support your local and support our industry before we are all a happy memory of the past
Mickey Mullan is a proud Derryman, an award-winning spirit enthusiast and the Manager of Malones Bar in Glasgow
The Whiskey Club, at Malones Bar in Glasgow, meets every month. For more information visit: www.facebook.com/GlasgowIrishWhiskeyClub
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