Director Alex Fegan and Sunday World's Esther McCarthy
A quirky new movie about one of our greatest institutions - The Irish Pub - had its premiere in Dublin this week.
The Irish Pub was the brainchild of director Alex Fegan, who travelled all over Ireland to document some of our best boozers, and the people who run them.
Fegan worked as a solicitor before quitting to pursue his dream of making films and now has several other projects in the pipeline.
Focusing on pubs that had been in the same family for three generations or more, Fegan encouraged owners to talk about their favourite stories and customers.
After the premiere at the Lighthouse in Dublin, Fegan spoke to Sunday World movie correspondent Esther McCarthy about making his documentary - before joining the audience at a craft beer reception.
Some of the pub talk had the audience in stitches, from publican Paul Gartlan’s put down of an American tourist who complained about their being no lock on the toilet door, to his assertion that: “you go in to an Irish pub and they’d nearly go up your arse to find out who you are”.
Famous boozers that feature in the lively documentary include Dublin institutions The Palace and The Gravediggers, much-loved West Cork spots MacCarthy’s in Castletownbere and De Barra’s in Clonakilty and Gertie Brown’s in Athlone.
The Irish Pub is now showing at cinemas.