A well-run Public House was an asset to the community A well-run Public House traded with an ethic and professionalism. While politics and religion had to be treated with respect in a public house, in a pre-television era, local issues...music, boxing, farming, fishing... and other topics of the day provided great sociability and discussion.

If a customer had an 'elegant sufficiency' and wanted more my mother or grandmother would politely and gently say 'You've had enough now John' and treat him with respect.

And that respect was always well received and reciprocated by good public house behaviour A well appreciated home-made ham sandwich to hit the spot often sealed the bargain and the appetite!

And while the Public House had to sell drink to make a living the core ethic was the 'social drink,' which provided the setting for chat, discussion, banter, and spontaneous sing-songs.

All pubs operated from 10:30 a.m. until 11:40 p.m. They were closed on Sundays so if you were thirsty you had to suffer it until Monday.

Our pub like many pubs had three doors... the front door, the side door and the back door.

Some customers wouldn't know where the front door was because they choose to slip in the side door or back door which gave them an element of privacy for their business.

What the public didn't know didn't trouble them!

The front door would be used by a few ladies who did not have access to the main bar but would slip into the snug immediately inside. A drop of whiskey, gin or port wine would be the normal aperitif and a puff of a woodbine or John Player. It was only in the mid to late fifties that it was socially acceptable for women to frequent the main bar in a public house.

In those days the porter or stout was housed in wooden barrels on a trestle with a wooden bung at the lower end. When the brass tap was hammered in with a wooden mallet the bung occasionally cracked and porter flowed freely on to the floor. The only thing left to do was to lick it up!

We had a Public House licence which had to be renewed annually in the courts and we never had an endorsement which basically meant that we had a 'clean' licence for 75 years.

So what is the connection between a Public House and a Bookshop? Well, both are essentially concerned with people.

They are about leisure time and social interaction. A social drink can be a comfort as can a book.

A book can be a release from the rigours of a busy day as can a social drink.

There is many a book has had it's inspiration from the happenings, stories and human observations of what goes on in a pub.

We remember Brendan Behan and his writings.

The upwards of 30 books which John B. Keane penned in the upstairs room of his public house bear testimony to a lifetime's connection between the pub and books.

75 years as a pub. 45 years as a bookshop. 5 generations of service.

The first meetings of the Skibbereen Rowing Club were held in the snug in the pub at 35 Main St in 1972. This photo is
from a celebration of the rowing club’s success in 1973 and is displayed inside the shop to this day.

A local independent bookshop at the heart of the community

The staff of Cathal O’Donovan’s bookshop, back Conor O’Farrell, Leo O’Farrell, Bronagh Conroy & Alex O’Donovan. From left front, Jill Longstaff,
Cathal O’Donovan & Luke Murray. If you are looking for a specific book, just ask as we can order it in for you.