Can you have a community without craic? Scholars of Ireland’s pubs warn of declining numbers

Two new books analyse what makes the 'perfect pub' and both come to a sobering conclusion: Irish pubs are in trouble 

10 elements for an ideal pub include “a great pint of Guinness at a decent price” and “convivial company when required, and peace when not”.

Like triple-distilled whiskey, Irish pubs appear to have timeless appeal. They are staple setting in films, books and plays, draw tourists to Ireland, replicate themselves around the world and induce social media quests for the perfect snug and the perfect pint.

Scholars have now bestowed academic imprimatur on this cultural treasure status by examining — and celebrating — pubs through the lens of history, sociology, architecture, psychology, design, art and literature.

Two new books, The Irish Pub: Invention and Reinvention, and The Dublin Pub: A Social and Cultural History, brim with footnotes, data and lore as they analyse what makes a “perfect pub” and the mysterious alchemy that produces “craic”.

However, in each case the authors come to a sobering conclusion: Irish pubs are in trouble. They are vanishing from rural Ireland and many are struggling to survive in the capital.

“It feels like a moment of transition,” said Donal Fallon, author of The Dublin Pub.  “Every Dubliner should drive through rural towns to see what’s happening. The pub has been knocked off its perch.” 

Some villages have lost all their pubs, and new housing developments often omit pubs, said Perry Share, a co-editor of The Irish Pub, a collection of essays by 20 writers.

“Planners are not insisting that pubs be put in. That could create problems in future in terms of loneliness and community cohesion.”

Since 2005, Ireland has lost a quarter of its pubs, more than 2,100, averaging 112 closures a year. Cited reasons include high taxes on alcohol, drink-driving laws, rising property prices and a fall in alcohol consumption.

Cork City's Cotton Ball pub is up for sale. 

It is a global phenomenon — traditional bars are shuttering across Britain and much of Europe and Asia — but for Ireland the stakes are particularly high, said Mr Share, who heads the school of social science and humanities at Atlantic Technological University.

“Our society is becoming segmented into different interest groups so it’s important to have these places to interact across class and gender lines,” he said. “In the pub it’s OK to express emotion in a certain way and to grab someone and hug them.” 

Just over half of the population live within 300 metres of Ireland’s remaining 7,000 pubs, and, Mr Share said, pubs remained central to expressions of Irish culture, such as in novels by authors including Sally Rooney and Paul Murray, TV shows such as Trespasses, and Hollywood depictions of Ireland.

“Even if declining, the pub is still part of the fabric of everyday life. If it does disappear it’s a real loss. People talk of alternatives, like coffee shops, but no one says they had great craic in the coffee shop,” he said.

The volume Mr Share co-edited with Moonyoung Hong, a professor of English at the University of Hong Kong, ranges over the evolution of taverns in the era of Jonathan Swift, the emergence of gay pubs in the 20th century, and the export of Irish-themed pubs from Nepal to Peru.

An essay by Kevin Martin — the author of a previous volume on pubs titled Have Ye No Homes to Go To? — identifies 10 elements for an ideal pub, including “a great pint of Guinness at a decent price” and “convivial company when required, and peace when not”.

The Ramble Inn, in the village of Halfway, Cork, closed last year. 

Social media influencers chronicle searches for “the best” Irish pub on Instagram and other platforms but Mr Fallon, a social historian, said that missed the point: “This veneration of a handful of places, this ranking system, is often driven by aesthetics rather than any appreciation of what the pub is. Something doesn’t have to be the best to be important. It has to be part of its community. If you’ve had the worst day in your life the nearest pub is probably the best pub.”

Mr Fallon’s book uncovers colourful tales involving figures such as the American photographer Lee Miller, who photographed the Palace bar while on assignment in Dublin for Vogue in the 1940s, but also explores and toasts unsung, nondescript suburban pubs.

Mr Fallon notes the word pub stems from public house. 

“There is real warmth in that term. It implies a shared space and a living space. It captures the collective sense of what a pub is.”

• The Guardian