Five Co. Clare pubs mentioned in 2003

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Sduddy
Posts: 1826
Joined: Sun Sep 26, 2010 10:07 am

Five Co. Clare pubs mentioned in 2003

Post by Sduddy » Thu Jan 13, 2022 1:09 pm

The Story of the Irish Pub: an Intoxicating History of the Licenced Trade in Ireland, by Cian Molloy, (2003), includes a list of pubs which have remained in the same families for 100 years. Only five Co. Clare pubs are featured, though I’m sure there are some more that qualify. This review of the book, by Tony Mulvey, published in the Clare Champion in January 2003, gives some information from the book on the five Co. Clare pubs: http://www.irishidentity.com/extras/inn ... /clare.htm.
The reviewer adds a piece on “Blakes in the Hollow,” in Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh, but this pub has only a very tenuous connection to Co. Clare.
The reviewer explains the term “Bona Fides,” as used in relation to public houses in Ireland; it often featured in the conversations and anecdotes of the older people when I was young in the 1950s – I can’t remember any particular story – I was not the least bit interested at that time - but I remember that there was usually a good laugh at the end.

Sheila

murf
Posts: 365
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Location: Qld Australia

Re: Five Co. Clare pubs mentioned in 2003

Post by murf » Thu Jan 13, 2022 10:51 pm

A similar Bona Fides law applied in the state of Victoria (Aust) during most of the 20th Century, and I remember taking advantage of it myself on at least one occasion in my youthful days.

Sduddy
Posts: 1826
Joined: Sun Sep 26, 2010 10:07 am

Re: Five Co. Clare pubs mentioned in 2003

Post by Sduddy » Fri Jan 14, 2022 1:54 pm

I see that pubs which passed to in-laws qualify for inclusion, so I wonder if Morty Kelly’s in Ruan would qualify on that basis. As far as I can ascertain, James Foley had a pub in Ruan in the latter part of the 19th century (the townland is Ruan Commons) The record of his death in 1898 gives his occupation as Shopkeeper, but I think he was a publican also: https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/ ... 652835.pdf
The 1901 census shows his widow, Mary Foley [née Crowe], occupation: housekeeper, but I think she was also a publican (Form B. I. describes the house as a Public House): http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/r ... 000461350/
Her daughter, Mary Glendon, and granddaughter, Anastasia Glendon, aged 17, are among the household: Anastasia Glendon married Mortimer Kelly sometime between 1901 and 1906. The 1911 census shows Mary Glendon, now head of household, and among the household are her daughter Anastatia, with husband Mortimor Kelly and four of their children: http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/r ... 001749241/
The headstone for Mary Glendon Foley, and for Anastatia and Mortimer (Morty) is in Ruan old graveyard: https://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/cocla ... ptions.htm
Although there’s a note explaining that James Foley lived where Morty Kelly’s is now, I’m not sure that James Foley’s was in the same exact location as Morty Kelly’s is now. The numbering of houses in the 1901 census, as compared with the 1911 census, leads me to suspect that the licence may transferred from one location to another:
Taking 1901 first: Mary Foley is living in House No. 7, which suggests to me that the house is somewhere in the middle of Ruan Village: http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/p ... n_Commons/. It is described as a 1st class house and the owner is Thomas Crowe (who, I suppose, was the local landlord - Crowes of Dromore). House No. 20, the last house, is also a 1st class house (owned by Thomas Crowe) and this is where some of the constabulary lived (unusually, their full names are given).
Then taking 1911: Form B.1 shows Mary Glendon living in house No. 1: http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/p ... n_Commons/.
This Form B.I. describes house No. 1 as a Public House and as a 2nd class house. It appears to me that the numbering started on the approach to Ruan village (from the Ennis side) and went around the village on one side and back to a house opposite Mary Glendons, i.e. house No. 18. Form B.I. (second page) shows us that House No. 18 was where some of the constabulary still lived, and I think this house stood opposite Mary Glendon’s pub, where the carpark is now. It is described as a 1st class house (owned by Thomas Crowe).
Maybe someone has a distant memory of this house.
Maybe, also, someone can say if James Foley lived in a house (and pub) closer to the chapel, maybe where the post office later stood, rather than where Morty Kellys is. I know this is just minutiae and I don’t for a minute think it in any way disqualifies Morty Kellys from a list of pubs which have remained within the same family for a century.

Sheila

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