"Pillars of the community": Pubs and publicans in rural Ireland

Abstract

The traditional importance of public houses or "pubs" in Irish culture, economy and society is widely acknowledged and has been analysed by a number of studies (McCarthy 2001, Munoz et al., 2006; Patterson and Brown, 2007). Pubs in Ireland provide a fertile terrain for various social activities and represent significant incubators for the development of human relationships and social networking across the whole country.