The Pub

Famous for its great traditional music sessions, the Marine Bar cannot be missed for its great 'craic' and good company... I have spent many evenings in Ring singing my heart out..."

From Pub & Shop Fronts of Ireland by Roisin O'Shea

The Marine Bar, Ring, Waterford - Picture by Roisin O'Shea

'Twas in the 1700's and the Marines had to trudge from Cork Harbour to Waterford Harbour. It's a fair slog, particularly on a hot summer's day, what with heavy red wool coat, vest, breeches, leggings and lugging sword, bayonet, cartridges, musket, blanket, and food.

Just about half way between the two towns on the old road rose the Drumhills. These drumlins, or glacial hills, aren't all that tall, but from either side there's a long, long climb up the rolling slopes.

The Marines were fair blown by the time they reached the top. The local widow woman was rousted out of her cow shed. The story, as it's come down to us, is that the thirsty Marines drank her dry. No dozen pitchers of milk could quench their powerful thirst.

The sargeant had an idea. If the widow was willing to open a shebeen, the sargeant would speak to the local magistrate and get her a license.

Right, says she. She spit on her hand before shaking to clinch the deal. Then came a busy fortnight. The animals had to be moved from the biggest shed and the place made clean. Her male relatives hastily built a table or two from rough planking. Hay would do fine for the Marines, but the sargeant and visiting gentry needed a stool. A barrel or two of whiskey was rolled in from that secret still in the hills run by her cousin. Mugs were gathered from the entire community - enough to do a company of Marines. Finally came the carton of tiny paper umbrellas to place in the drinks. She was open for business.

Fast forward to the 1830's. The shebeen is still going strong. By now, there are stools aplenty, benches, and even chairs. The shebeen has gone all gentrified and even carries porter and brandy. It does a roaring trade because of its ideal position on the main road half way between the booming cities of Waterford and Cork.

A gentleman from the not too distant town of Clonmel stops in. He's been running stagecoaches from Clonmel to Waterford and now he wants to open a route to Cork. But, a ride up the road from Dungarvan convinces him that his horses will need to be rested after cresting the hill. Would the Marine Bar act as a posting stage for his line?

They would. The barman and his wife would need to add a shed or two for the coaches, but they were well used by this period to handling horses and carts. Another business opportunity was clasped and the famed Bianconi Stagecoach Line passed by the Marine and on to Cork.

The place boomed. For a while. By 1834, the nation's first railway line opened. It ran from Dublin to the nearby port of Kingstown/Dun Laoighre some 11 miles away. The writing was on the Hills. The railroad avoided the long grade up the Drumhills and the Marine lost the bulk of its traffic.

Then the famine struck. Wagonloads of the dead were hauled to their anonymous graves just down the old road from the Marine. Whole villages cleared out for America - or joined their kin beneath the earth. Off went the Kelly's, the Murphy's and the Daley's.

A century later, one of the local Daley's rose to prominence in Chicago, the USA. The monument to Richard Daley, the famous mayor who made Jack Kennedy president, stands just a mile down the road from the Marine.

And the picture turns. In 1994, Christie O'Neill bought the fading local pub that was still called the Marine Bar. By now, any vestigial memory of the Redcoats had faded and everyone assumed that the Marine being referred to were the nearby Irish Sea and the local community of fishermen who make their living on its waters.

Christie's plans were simple. Offer the public what they wanted and the Marine would thrive again.

Good food. Fine drink. Great Music.

200 years and the place is still a shebeen at heart.

Located on the main Waterford - Cork road (the N-25) just up the Sweep from Dungarvan.

There's plenty of parking - for buses, cars and donkey carts.

Marines welcome.

Marine Bar
Pulla, Dungarvan, County Waterford, Ireland
Tel: within Ireland 058 - 46520
Tel: international: +353-58-46520
E-mail: marinebar@eircom.net