TM’s Vintage bar in Kilnaleck is stout of this world with pints still at just €5

JUST over 100km from our headquarters in Dublin city there’s a tiny village called Kilnaleck. None of our Commandos had ever heard of it, yet that’s where we found ourselves on our most recent outing.

The Young Commando had suggested it, and as none of us knew anything about the area we decided to we’d check it out.

“How did you hear of this place?” the Old Commando asked him as we passed through Oldcastle in Co Meath.

“I don’t know anything about it either,” the Young Commando replied.

“I found it on Google Maps and noticed there are seven pubs within a 200 yard stretch on the Main Street,” he said. “We’ll be spoilt for choice,” the Young Commando gleefully added.

Our Commandos are always eager to check out new areas and pubs so this trip to Kilnaleck sounded ideal. Unfortunately when we arrived in the small village we soon discovered there were no longer seven pubs open.

In fact, only one pub was open, TM Vintage Bar. The Old Commando gazed down at his watch and rather glumly suggested that if the other six pubs weren’t open at this stage of the evening, you’d have to wonder if they were opening at all.

Perhaps one or two have a very late opening time but without a doubt some of these boozers have shut for good. Yet another sign of the decline in rural Ireland that the Government continues to ignore for some reason, as long as Temple Bar is busy.

We arrived into TM Vintage’s pub and it is indeed in vintage condition, which pleased the Old Commando, but the most important thing that caught his eye was that every single customer sitting at the counter was drinking pints of Guinness. He knew he was in for a treat straight away.

Our troops sat on cream leather bench seating on the right of the bar with the Old Commando dispatched to the counter on the left to get our round of drinks in.

He was served immediately by an experienced barmaid wearing glasses and we thought he’d never get back over with our pints.

She was a wonderful character who engaged him in conversation and we quickly established she was the life and soul of the place.

She never stopped talking throughout our visit and it struck us that any time a customer arrived to the pub they didn’t even ask for a drink, they simply sat down anywhere in the pub and the barmaid just knew what they all wanted. That’s service for you.

The creamy pints of stout cost €5 and they were very well received by our Commandos, creamy till the last drop.

There was a predominately male clientele in the bar but it was the barmaid who was the dominant voice in the building with yarns being spun aplenty.

The TV behind the counter was turned off and neither projection screen was in use either.

The bench seating and barstools is all in good condition and there are three sockets and USB ports at the back wall for mobile phone enthusiasts. It seems like every pub needs to have them these days.

The timber flooring was clean and the shelves were all well stocked too.

Our Young Commando commented that there was none of the fancy new drinks on draught with the old reliable Guinness, Smithwicks, Carlsberg, Heineken and Budweiser taking preference.

There are Podge and Rodge dolls sitting on the shelf behind the counter and the Old Commando reckons some of the locals shared similar abrupt mannerisms as the O’Leprosy twins.

All in all, for our first trip to Kilnaleck, we certainly enjoyed our time in the Vintage Bar and we’d have no hesitation in calling again some day. The pints were cheap by today’s standards, the barmaid was a howl and the locals gave us a good few laughs.

Rating: Four pints out of Five

One for the road…

Langtry’s Bar – Ballyjamesduff

THERE was a brilliant atmosphere in Langtry’s bar when Pub Spy and the team arrived for a recent visit.

Most of the noise was generating from the back of the room where multiple males were playing pool, including the barman.

He served us straight away and seemed to be a popular character with the locals. There are pints of Rockshore, Carling, Coors and even Heineken Zero available on draught, while each of the four TVs was showing live sports and there’s a dart board and jukebox at the rear of the pub.

The timber flooring was worn but clean, while the blue velvet covered barstools at the counter and the red velvet chairs and bench seating at the tables were all in good condition.

The Cavan senior footballers of 1997 are proudly displayed and each of the four provinces have their flags draped from the ceiling.

The toilets checked out fine and we enjoyed our stay in Langtry’s. We’d certainly call again someday. Rating: Three pints out of Five