Castletownbere is the main town on Ireland's Beara Peninsula and was once a haven for smugglers. Just offshore, the Bere Island is so sparsely populated that it makes Castletownbere seem like a huge metropolis. For tourists, it’s really just a stop along the loop around the Beara Peninsula, but it does have one serious claim to world-wide fame.
The real thing sitting on the main street of Castletownbere is McCarthy’s Bar, yes, the same bar that features so prominently on the cover of Pete McCarthy’s bestseller ‘McCarthy’s Bar’. Inside it is immediately clear that there’s more to McCarthy’s than one would guess from the establishments name. To The right of the door is a cozy snug, where Cork families would meet to discuss marriage terms as recently as a generation ago.
To the left of the door is a small grocery where locals can find that important ingredient provided it’s in a tin, when all other convenience stores are closed. The bar itself sits near the back of the large room filled with unbelievable memorabilia, there is often lively music being played and a patron or two to exchange pleasantries with.
We stopped in here on a moist Sunday afternoon, when all else was closed; we chatted with a couple of local couples watching Liverpool soccer, and felt like we could stay there for a good long while, drinking tea and eating scones with jam and cream. A wonderful experience.
3-shot handheld HDR; as always, your comments are appreciated and try this one in Black.
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