TRADITIONAL IRISH PUB - CASTLETOWNBERE, BEARA PENINSULA, WEST CORK, IRELAND
All-night hooley in MacCarthy's Bar
This was the title of chapter six in the late Pete McCarthy's best-selling travel book, 'McCarthy's Bar', first published in 2000. In that chapter, he told of his hilarious adventures in Castletownbere and his visit to MacCarthy's Bar.
Pete changed the spelling to that of his own name when he used a photo of himself in the doorway of the pub for the book cover (Bailey the pug managed to get in on the act, just by chance).
A stand-up comic and comedy writer before becoming a travel writer, Pete was born in Warrington, Lancashire, to an Irish mother and an English father. He was the writer and performer of many series for radio and TV.
'McCarthy's Bar', his first book, told of his journey in Ireland, over a six-month period, from the south to the north-west of the country. 'Never pass a bar that has your name on it,' was one of Pete's rules of travel. Hugely popular, the book has sold more than a million copies.
Sadly, Pete suffered from cancer, and died in 2004, aged only 53. Adrienne and Niki MacCarthy still remember him with affection. He wrote an introduction for a new edition of Dr Aidan MacCarthy's book, 'A Doctor's War', published in 2006.
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'From Barley to Blarney: A Whiskey Lover's Guide to Ireland' by Sean Muldoon, Jack McGarry, Tim Herlihy and Conor Kelly (2019) - 'A bar like this is special. Customers off on their travels around the world send it postcards. They pine for it.' MacCarthy's is one of only 30 'iconic' Irish bars showcased.
Other books featuring MacCarthy's Bar
'At the Edge of Ireland: Seasons on the Beara Peninsula', by David Yeadon (2009) - 'MacCarthy's Bar ... the dream Irish pub of the popular romantic imagination'.
'Ireland's Atlantic Shore: People and Places from Mizen to Malin', by Valerie O'Sullivan (2012) -
'The world-renowned MacCarthy's Bar ... an old-world pub and provisions store'.
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'The Parting Glass: A Toast to the Traditional Pubs of Ireland', by Eric Roth (2006) - 'Tourists often count the memory of a favourtie Irish pub the highlight of a trip to the Emerald Isle'.