“We used to have 67 pubs in Kilrush at one stage, every other door was a bar. Now we have four, and one in Cappa.” Shawna Johnson’s description of her hometown’s changing pub scene reflects the industry across rural Ireland. Yet, in the face of this decline, Shawna believes pubs are more vital than ever. “There’s a man there drinking a cup of coffee, he’s not obliged to drink anything, he gets that cup of coffee for free. If I don’t see him, I’m asking people if they saw him because he doesn’t see anybody else.
‘Pubs are so important from a social aspect too, we’ve become unsociable with screens. I’ve had Christmas parties here and everyone is on their phone and I’ll get out the basket and say, ‘phones in there, you can collect them at closing time’ and they’re like ‘oh my God we had such a good night’ because they had to talk.”
Even as drinking habits shift, Johnson’s Bar on Henry Street continues to thrive, with Shawna admitting that “business is good.” From early May to September, the pub sets up an outdoor area with live music, turning the street into a mini-concert area that lures passers-by and visitors from the Marina for a dance, a drink, or a chat. “It’s a bit of fun, it’s about bringing life to the town and it makes it easy to work because everybody’s in great form,” Shawna notes. “At 10pm on a Saturday night when you’re hoping to draw tourists in and there isn’t a person in the street, who’s going to stop next time? The bar scene is so important to every small town, it’s the hub of the town.”
Established in 1970 by Shawna’s parents, Seán and Francis, the parents of eight purchased the pub after moving from the USA to be closer to Seán’s aging parents. Shawna recalls helping out at such a young age that she would drag a crate along the ground “and I’d hop up and down so I could reach the whiskey to serve customers.” The bar also holds a unique place in local history. “We were the first bar in Kilrush to have a lady’s toilet,” Shawna smiles. “At the time, bars had little snugs and ladies were supposed to be seen, not heard and my mother being the Canadian lady said to my father, ‘well if you expect me to make friends around here, you better have a toilet for my friends to go to’.”
Shawna’s brother purchased the bar in 1986 from their father, and nine years ago, Shawna took on the license. Shawna, who volunteers as lifeboat manager at the local RNLI station, says there is great cause for optimism despite changing habits, with younger people choosing to drink at home. “We have a fantastic town, there is no doubt about it. Visitors come here once and they come back year after year, if we can get them to stop. We have loads of places to eat now, Harbour Restaurant, Bowman’s Lane, the Haven Arms, Beag, Oileán. We have a wide variety of food now whereas a few years ago we didn’t have anything,” says Shawna. “We have a big variety of age groups here whether it’s the pool table or the dart boards or the music. We’re very friendly and very welcoming, we don’t care who you are or what you have, that’s one thing about us. There’s always a bit of sport going on and my customers are fantastic, they’re very welcoming to every stranger who comes in.”
