Show Notes
In 1984, Ronald Reagan visited Ireland and the place of birth of his great grandfather, Michel Regan. On his visit to Ballyporeen, County Tipperary, he visited two cultural institutions; first the local church and then, of course, the local pub. In his honour, O'Farrell's pub was renamed 'The Ronald Reagan'. This podcast is the story of how that pub was saved from being scattered to the four corners of Ireland, and came to re reassembled 8,000km (5,000 miles) away in the Ronald Reagan library in California where you can still get a pint of Guinness today.
To find out the full story, I spoke with Fred Ryan. Fred, as well as being the man responsible for the pub making its way to California, worked in the White House with President Reagan, became the president's Chief of Staff after his terms of office, and then became chairman of the board of trustees for the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation. Fred was the first CEO of Politico and most recently is the CEO of The Washington Post.
Music used: 'The Encouragement Stick' by Doctor Turtle. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
More from Publin
In this bonus episode of the Publin podcast, I speak with a few people who tell stories and experiences of working the docks of Dublin port and their lives growing up in the East Wall and Ringsend. This episode was recorded after a live event in December to celebrate a new exhibition called 'Solidarity, the dockers of Dublin port'.
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This week I was joined by Dublin Port’s Charlie Murphy and Daryl Hendley Rooney of The Little Museum of Dublin for this special live edition of the Publin Podcast. Recorded in front of an audience at Cleary’s Pub on Amiens Street, we chatted about the Solidarity exhibition at the Port’s Substation, Dublin social history, pubs and so much more.
"I'm the only a man in the history of music promotors to have lost money on a Radiohead gig." In 1993 Radiohead were on a tour of 149 venues across 2 continents to promote their debut album Pablo Honey. It was on that tour that they played their first ever Irish gig in a Temple Bar venue called 'The Rock Garden'. Years later they would be playing to sold out crowds in huge venues. But first, they were at a basement bar playing to a crowd of less than 100. Here's the story of that gig. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Now in a state of total dereliction, The Plough on Abbey Street was once THE theatre pub in the city, drawing crowds of patrons before and after shows in the Abbey Theatre across the road. Some of the most famous faces in Irish film and theatre have had a drink here, including Peter O'Toole, Liam Neeson, and Gabriel Byrne.