NOW I learn of all those great sing-song pubs of the recent past.
Our own was the St Catherine’s Club on Merchant’s Quay (see Alice McKay story) but there were a few others too. Notably Maurice Mulgrew’s Cobweb on Monaghan Street.
I may be shy but I’ll sing in public at the drop of a hat! Or, in this case, an ashtray!
I’d only got halfway through the first verse of The Boxer when it suddenly began to rain metal ashtrays! I took cover and stopped instantly.
Uproar broke out! Did I know nothing??
The clients were showing their appreciation with the throwing of ashtrays, the singer’s popularity being measured by how few ashtrays remained unthrown at his completion.
It was a ‘spit & sawdust’ type bar as in the days of old. And all the more popular for that!
It is sorely missed!