I slipped through the historic doors of The Snug before opening time on a Tuesday morning to find Maurice O’Donovan waiting to tell me his story.

BY TILLY ROBERTS

He spoke with pride about his 34 years as head chef and owner of one of Bantry’s most popular hostelries.

‘I was only 27 when I bought the place,’ he recalled fondly. ‘I was young, but I had the drive to work for myself and have my own business.’

The Snug is an iconic West Cork pub that people have been returning to for generations. ‘It’s the community’s go-to destination for food,’ said Maurice. ‘It’s [loss is] a big hole to fill. We were feeding over two thousand people a week during the summer.’

Despite working in the hospitality business for more than three decades, Maurice describes himself as shy by nature. ‘I’m happiest in the kitchen.’ He shrugged. ‘If somebody wants to talk to me, I panic a bit. I’m not a people person.’

As a chef, Maurice takes pride in using local ingredients and meat from his family’s farms. ‘The quality shows on the plate,’ he said. ‘It’s not from New Zealand. It’s from Kealkill, you know?’

The decision to source locally meant he made less profit than others might make, but, ‘I get satisfaction from producing good food,’ he said. ‘It would have bugged me if I’d sent out anything I wasn’t proud of.’

Originally from Goleen on the Mizen Head, Maurice began training as a chef age 15 through CERT.

His early years were spent honing his skills.

He spent some time working in the West County Hotel in Ennis where he met his late wife Colette, who was working behind the bar.

After a year working in Switzerland, he returned to Ireland in the early 1980s, taking up positions in Limerick and Galway, including one at the Park House Restaurant and another at a  busy bar in Eyre Square.

He then spent several years travelling through Galway, Clare, and Kerry, looking for the right place to open a food-centred pub, until he heard The Snug was coming on the market.

‘So I went chasing it,’ he said with a smile. ‘It took nearly twelve months to get it, but I stayed on it until I was able to buy it.’

When he took over Maurice introduced evening meals, and business took off from there. He remembers when he started out there were five pubs in a row on the same Bantry street, all thriving.

‘There was a big midweek drinking trade,’ he recalled. ‘The solicitors, the legal fraternity, and the guards would come in. Every night there would be three behind the bar. We had some crazy busy nights like when Bantry won the County Final in 1998’

In 2016, Maurice bought the neighbouring pub, then The West End, and renovated it. But just a few weeks after reopening in June 2017, Colette sadly passed away. ‘It was tough,’ he said, ‘she was the best lady here at
the front.’

Maurice credits front-of-house duo Mary and John O’Sullivan with much of The Snug’s success. He has seen his industry change dramatically and admits there are many challenges facing vintners and restauranteurs these days. ‘It was easier back years ago,’ he said. ‘People wanted to work in hospitality back then.’

Maurice is now looking forward to some well-earned time off, which he plans to spend motorbiking with friends, and finally getting to local events like the Bantry Show. ‘If somebody came tomorrow and bought it, I’d gladly mentor them,’ he said. ‘I’d give them all the help and time I could.’

In the last few weeks, since he announced that The Snug was closing its doors for good, people have travelled down from across Ireland to dine one last time and raise a glass to the popular eatery.

‘I’ll miss the kitchen,’ said Maurice. ‘I enjoy coming down every day, but I won’t miss running a business.’