A Pint of Plain: Tradition, Change, and the Fate of the Irish Pub

by Bill Barich

Overview

After meeting an Irishwoman in London and moving to Dublin, Bill Barich, a "blow-in," or stranger, in Irish parlance found himself looking for a traditional Irish pub to be his local. There are nearly 12,000 pubs in Ireland, so he appeared to have plenty of choices. He wanted a pub like the one in John Ford's classic movie, The Quiet Man, offering talk and drink with no distractions, but such pubs are now scarce as publicans increasingly rely on flat-screen televisions, rock music, even Texas Hold 'Em to attract a dwindling clientele. For Barich, this signaled that something deeper was at play an erosion of the essence of Ireland, perhaps without the Irish even being aware. A Pint of Plain is Barich's witty, deeply observant portrait of an Ireland vanishing before our eyes. While 85 percent of the Irish still stop by a pub at least once a month, strict drunk-driving laws have helped to kill business in rural areas. Even traditional Irish music, whose rich roots connect the past to the present and close a circle, is much less prominent in pub life. Ironically, while Irish pubs in the countryside are closing at the alarming rate of one per day, plastic IPC-type pubs are being born in foreign countries at the exact same rate.

From the famed watering holes of Dublin to tiny village pubs, Barich introduces a colorful array of characters, and, ever pursuing craic, the ineffable Irish word for a good time, engages in an unvarnished yet affectionate discussion about what it means to be Irish today.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781510732193
Publisher:	Skyhorse
Publication date:	06/19/2018
Pages:	252
Sales rank:	660,768
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.10(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Bill Barich is the author of numerous books, among them Big Dreams: Into the Heart of California and The Sporting Life. He has written extensively for The New Yorker, as well as Playboy and Sports Illustrated. He has been a Guggenheim Fellow in fiction. Barich lives in Dublin, Ireland.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 A Pint of Plain 1

Chapter 2 Jack Birchall's Ranelagh House 5

Chapter 3 A Shock to the System 23

Chapter 4 The Ancient Birthplace of Good Times 37

Chapter 5 Mirth Is God's Medicine 61

Chapter 6 The Gravediggers 83

Chapter 7 The Halcyon Days of Manhood 105

Chapter 8 The Cobblestone 127

Chapter 9 The Folly of Cong 151

Chapter 10 A Wise Man, Indeed 173

Chapter 11 Closing Time 197

Chapter 12 Journey's End 219

Acknowledgments 237

Bibliography 239

Editorial Reviews

With scholarly rigor, he surveys the literature on the history of drinking, drunkenness and pubs before rewarding himself with the grueling and perilous fieldwork of sampling deeply from the 12,000 outposts in Ireland where alcohol is sold by the glass…Mr. Barich's picaresque meander through the Irish bloodstream is an entertaining survey of the culture and commerce of Ireland at a tremulous moment in its history…Fascinating.” —Wall Street Journal

“Most browsers will pick this up because they want to read about Irish pubs, but they will get much, much more than they expected. An excellent, however sneaky, addition to the literature of globalization.” —Booklist

“Barich weaves a never-ending stream of oddly engaging historical and literary references into every dead end…Barich's passion for boozy subjects is broad and undeniable. He's equally at ease covering the effects of the temperance movement and introducing regional slang terms for being drunk.” —New York Times Book Review

“The American writer Bill Barich moved to Ranelagh, on Dublin's south side, some time ago and set out to find the perfect Irish pub. A Pint of Plain: Tradition, Change, and the Fate of the Irish Pub is an engaging account of his quest and investigations.” —Boston Globe

“Nicely researched, intelligently written, his book is a fun read tinged with melancholy at the thought of time passing and things changing; appropriately Irish, I think.” —Minneapolis Star Tribune

From the Publisher