Five Things I Learned while Bartending in Ireland
An American’s take on some Irish traditions.
As an American tending bar in Dublin, Ireland in 1989, I learned many interesting things about Irish culture and language.
I also experienced many of the social nuances found in many Irish pubs. Some of the traditions were archaic and fading but some were still practiced quite frequently.
1. Holy Hour
In Dublin in 1989, we would have to shut the bar down for an hour during Holy Hour on Sundays.
Customers were not asked to leave the pub during that time. They could stay in the pub but we were not allowed to serve them during that hour.
I would announce that Holy Hour was in ten minutes, and the customers that were in the bar would often each order three pints of Guinness to get them by during the hour that we could not serve them.
We would line the pints up in front of each customer and they would often time their drinking perfectly to be taking their last swallow when the end of Holy Hour was announced.
2. Glass vs. pint
While much had changed, many of the social norms regarding women and drinking still hung around.
Traditionally, women were expected to order a glass of beer (half pint) while men ordered the pints. There was no social norm that I could tell against them drinking the same amount. They simply had to order twice as often.
In the bar I worked, we, of course, would serve half pints to men (and pints to women) if they wanted but with the exception of tourists and foreigners, I was really amazed at how infrequently this social norm was broken.
I think I have read that that tradition is starting to be ignored in most places today.
3. Lounges also known as snugs
Although the pub I worked in did not have one, another archaic tradition that could be found in many Irish pubs was a small, separate room found at the end of the bar called a snug or lounge.
In past times, women were expected to drink in this tiny nook instead of bellying up to the bar. Their husbands could join their wives in the lounge, but the opposite was not supposed to occur.
Thankfully, this tradition too has largely faded but the snugs now occupied by both sexes equally can still be found in older pubs.
4. Misunderstood accent
To be a successful bartender in Ireland, I also had to understand the Irish accents and the differences in the English language used by the Irish.
The pub I worked in was a little more upscale than your average Dublin pub and we were expected to wear white button-down shirts with a black bow tie, black apron, black slacks, black socks, and black shoes.
One day before my shift started, my manager asked me to run across the street for some black socks. Assuming someone needed them because they had not worn the proper uniform, I asked how many? She said she didn’t care. Just get some black socks in whatever quantity they have them.
I ran to the small shop that seemed to have everything across the street and proudly came back with a pack of three pairs of black socks. My manager started laughing and took the black socks around to everyone and showed them what I had bought.
Not knowing exactly what was going on, I watched as she held them over the trash can and said, I don’t think these will fit. It turned out, she had asked me to buy black sacks (trash bags) and with her Irish accent, I heard black socks.
5. You want me to do what?
Another time, during a busy shift, she asked me to “do the bends.”
“What?” I asked her not sure I heard her right.
“The bends, the bends, just do the bends,” she looked at me incredulously. I looked at her dumbfounded. What kind of contortion was she asking me to perform?
Annoyed, she grabbed a trash can a started pulling the liner up.
Ah, I thought. She was asking me to “do the bins”. She wanted me to take the trash out.
As time went by, I got used to the Irish accent, words, and phrases and they got used to my midwestern drawl and American idioms. I lived in Ireland for only six months, but the memories of the people and culture have stuck with me for a lifetime.
For more stories of my time bartending in Ireland:
