Moroney's Bar

All at Moroney's Bar would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank all our loyal customers and friends both at home and abroad for their continued custom. It was great to see so many faces home from far and wide for the Christmas holidays as this is a time for family and friends. Unfortunately this past year we have lost some dear friends who sadly will never walk through our doors again and we especially think of them all and their families at this time of year. It is you who has put Moroney's on the map and made it the popular pub that it is today for which we are eternally grateful. Happy New Year and Sincere Best Wishes from Maurice, Tomas, Ronnie, Hanna, Teresa and Ricky. Looking forward to seeing you all in 2026

On Friday 21st November last Ennis lost another old business with the closure of McCannon's drapery shop in the Lower Market area of the town. After 50 years trading Liam ( Willie) McCannon has retired from business and so with it another Market Street landmark has closed. Over the last few weeks when news of Liam's pending retirement became known many of his customers came to wish him well including Patsy Cronin who was one of McCannon's original customers back in the 50's. Following on from the closures of Meere's Butchers, O Connor's Newsagents and The Post Office in recent times it's another blow to what was once a vibrant commercial area.

Liam's late father Bill opened the original drapery shop which was then situated where the present roundabout is in The Market. With the demolition of this area in the late 60's the present shop was built in 1969… Read more

Our own Gerry Moroney won four senior titles with Ennis Faughs 1947, 1948, 1952 and 1954, captaining them to victory in 1952. An interesting article in the Clare Champion in the week leading up to the Clare Senior Football final by well know journalist Joe O Muircheartaigh recounts the story of how the original Faughs got their first set of jerseys. The late Frankie ( Popeye) Coote recalled that they had no jerseys and went about collecting money. " Gerry Moroney one of the players and when he went back to the family pub in The Market and told them of the new club he was told to go upstairs and take what change was in the dresser. When it was all counted up there was enough for a set of jerseys" And so The Faughs were off and running. Different times but the passion for Gaelic Football in the… Read more

After the fantastic breakthrough for the hurlers the Eire Og footballers under new manager Shane Daniels won the Jack Daly Cup for the second consecutive year and the fourth time in the last five years which is a truly fantastic achievement. Not only that but it completed the senior hurling and football double for The Townies and the only club side in the 32 counties to do so this year. What a historic achievement. There were 14 dual players across both panels which shows how well both management teams handled the workload for the players. They met neighbours St Joseph's Doora Barefield in the final and it was only in the closing stages that The Townies pulled away to win on a scoreline of 1-16 to 2-06.

The team lined out as follows : Eire Og: Cian Howard; Dean Ryan, Aaron Fitzgerald, Manus Doherty; Ciaran Russell, Gavin DAuria, Ronan Lanigan;… Read more

What a year it has been for Eire Og Ennis senior hurlers or as they are better know THE TOWNIES. After a 35 year wait the Canon Hamilton Cup , the holy grail of senior hurling in the county will finally rest in the Clonroadmore Clubhouse on Sunday 5th October. The first time Eire Og won the Senior Championship was in 1956 and our own Gerry Moroney was corner back on that breakthrough team. At the start of the season manager Gerry O Connor and his long time assistant with Eire Og teams down the years John Russell had only one objective and that was to win the senior title. Thankfully their tremendous dedication, the injection of youth and a never say die attitude from all the fantastic players got them over the line against a gallant Clooney - Quin side. The team that lined out in the final is… Read more

Ennislusc had their biggest ever outing when two bus loads of supporters headed to The Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Saturday 9th August for the glamour friendly Leeds United vs AC Milan. It was a historic rematch 24 years in the making (their first meeting since the 2000/01 Champions League season when Dominic Matteo scored in the 1-1 draw which qualified Leeds for the second phase) and ironically this game also ended in a 1-1 draw.

The Aviva was a sell out and it is testimony to the huge following Leeds United have in Ireland. Being back in The Premiership one would hope that a new generation of Leeds fans will come to the fore and follow The Whites. A huge word of thanks to Ennislusc Secretary Mike Jones who organized the superb trip. Mile Buiochas Mick. On Monday night Leeds kick off their Premiership season with a home game to… Read more

Last Saturday at 12.30 pm Moroney's was buzzing as Leeds United took on Plymouth Argyle in the last game of The Championship. Knowing victory would confirm them going up as Champions regardless of the result in the Burnley vs Millwall game there was shock horror as The Robins went ahead on eighteen minutes. This is the way is stayed until HT while Burnley were drawing 1-1 at the interval and heading up as Champions. Thankfully on 53 minutes Gnonto equalised for Leeds only for news to filter through that The Clarets were 2-1 up to Millwall so only victory for Leeds would guarantee them The Championship.

Heading into five minutes of injury time and still needing a goal Leeds supporters were praying for a spark of genius to win the game. Thankfully Manor Solomon on loan from Spurs weaved his way into the penalty area on 91 minutes and scored… Read more

Tuesday next sees the Cheltenham Racing Festival kicking off at 1.20 with the Supreme Novice Hurdle and this promises to be a great four days of racing. As always Moroney's will be running a Cheltenham Leaderboard where one picks a horse for each of the 28 races over the four days with one entry per person and all for twenty euro. It certainly is a great way of having an interest in each race and following your favourite horse. It promises to be an exciting week racing and if you are not heading across the water then Moroney's is the next best place to soak up the atmosphere, enjoy the craic while food will be provided each day to patrons. Good luck with your choices and enjoy the fun which is Cheltenham.

Today marks the founding of Ennislusc ( 2001) that started over a few pints in Fafa Considines Bar in Parnell Street which at the time was run by Paul " Nuggy " Nihill. The late great Mike McNamara, Shaun " Bombs" McCarthy, Cyril " Slim" Corry and Nuggy hatched an idea to form a club given the interest in Leeds United with the idea of hopefully in the future organising trips to Elland Road. And boy has their dream of a supporters club grown beyond theirs and ours wildest dreams.

Trips to Elland Road became an annual event and on many occasions we had the pleasure of meeting footballing legends of our youth who previously we only saw on TV. The likes of Eddie Gray, Peter Lorimer, Mike Jones, Paul Madeley,Johnny Giles etc who always had time for a chat and a photo on days we'll never forget. The friendships… Read more

As we enter 2025 Moroney's Bar will celebrate 185 years in business. The Market area has certainly seen many changes over the years as has Moroney's. The bar thankfully has retained that feeling of the local pub where everyone is welcome. However without our tremendously loyal customers this would not be possible and we are truly in debt for your continued support.

To All our loyal customers and friends we sincerely wish you and your families a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year. Maurice, Ronnie, Hanna, Tomas and Teresa look forward to your continues support in 2025.

On Christmas Eve O Connor's newsagents will close its doors after 43 years in business. It was first opened in 1981 by Mrs Joan O Connor and for many years has been run by her daughter Sheila. An extremely popular shop where one always got a great greeting from Sheila and Teresa Reynolds it certainly will be a huge loss to The Market landscape. When Mrs O Connor took over the shop it was located in the Lower Market where Brownies Barbers is today and run by Mrs Maura Keane. Originally this news agency was Hewitt's in Chapel Lane ( opposite Jim Casey Trophies) so this now sees the end of an era. Indeed many will remember Shinners Newsagents in the Lower Market when run by Josie Cronin and Michael Tierney also worked there.

There were always two newsagents in The Market but sadly with newspapers on line the newsagents… Read more

A superb performance by Eire Og saw them capture their third county senior football title in four years when they defeated Kilmurray Ibrickane in a dominant display at Cusack Park on Sunday on a scoreline 1-10 to 0-06. Indeed it was appropriate that The Townies captured the new Jack Daly trophy as Jack himself was steeped in Ennis GAA affairs. Jack won Minor B hurling honours in 1954 and Minor A honours in 1956 with St Johns GAA club in Ennis. He then joined Eire Og and lined out at full forward in their senior county final win of 1957 as they defeated Whitegate. He also became the youngest ever county board chairperson in his mid 20s as he succeeded John Jones N.T in the chair on January 27th 1963. So it was a proud moment when Eire Og captain Aaron Fitzgerald lifted the trophy to the huge town following… Read more

This weekend will see a collection of blacksmiths and craft workers take over the indoor Market Street car park for a brand new festival. This is the brain child of French craftsman Guy Urbin who last year moved to Ennis along with his wife and opened an art and craft gallery in Curtain's Lane opposite The Market Bar & Restaurant. Guy was the resident blacksmith at the National Heritage Centre in Wexford where he also organized the Steel Bangers Festival in Enniscorthy for many years. He is also a regular at The Bloom Festival and in his own words " I organized this festival to thank the people of Ennis for the fantastic welcome , making us feel that we were born here and also to pass on our knowledge even if it is only visual as many people have never seen a forge in action"

When Guy first spoke… Read more

Clare 3-29 Cork 1-34 ( After Extra Time)

What an unbelievable day as a Clareman to be in Croke Park and see our magnificent hurlers claim the Liam McCarthy Cup for the 5th time in our history. It's been touted as one of the best All Ireland finals ever with Tony Kelly's goal being lauded also as the best ever scored in a final. The atmosphere from early on was electric and with Clare down seven points by the 12th minute no one could predict the massive turn around by the Clare team. Shane O Donnell the hero of 2013 started it by setting up a goal and following up with the next two points to cut the deficit. Coming up to the half time Clare were up a point but a super Darragh Fitzgibbon point in first half injury time had the teams on level terms when the whistle… Read more

This weekend a beautiful mural was completed in Lysaght's Lane as one enters the car park area behind Paddy Quinn's Bar . Over the last number of weeks as the painting was progressing many of the locals were wondering what the scene was going to depict and now we can revel that it commemorate the death of young Patrick Morrissey ( 5 years & 10 months ) of Lysaght's Lane on 14th August 1915. Thanks to Larry Brennan of the Clare Roots Society who published a history of the event entitled " Patrick Morrissey The Troubles 1921" we now know that Patrick was playing marbles in Scabby Lane with another boy when he was hit in the cross fire between The Volunteers and Black and Tans .

The volunteers had attempted to take a revolver from one of the two RIC constables on O Connell Street but following a struggle… Read more

It was with deep shock and sadness that on Wednesday last, news filtered through of the passing of our great friend and ex President of Ennislusc Joe ( Josie) Hester. I had only met Josie in The Market a few weeks back outside O Connor's Newsagents as he collected his weekly Clare Champion and the Connaught Tribune. A proud native of Mayo most of us got to know Josie in St Flannan's College where he taught French, and was well liked by all the students that had the pleasure of having him as a teacher. Indeed in my time in St Flannan's I had no idea that Josie was an avid Leeds supporter and was a mine of history on the club. It was only years later his great friend and teaching colleague the late John Finn said to me that Josie would like to join the supporters club.

I told… Read more

We are now beginning the second month of our new music gigs and we are delighted with the reception and feed back from customers and friends to the first months offering. The musicians / singers have been top class and we thank them sincerely for their excellent repertoire and top class gigs. The following is the gig line up for April :

Friday 5th The Rogues

Saturday 6th : Faye Moloney

Friday 12th : Sarah Croker

Saturday 13th : Bart Lever

Friday 19th : Ali Woodford

Saturday 20th : Sarah Croker

Friday 26th : The Rogues

Saturday 27th : Faye Moloney

Come to one of the gigs in Moroney's and you won't be disappointed.

On Tuesday 12th March the top meeting of the National Hunt season kicks off at Cheltenham and you can watch all four days racing in Moroney's on our eight screens so you will miss none of the action. With such a strong Irish contingent heading over punters will be hoping that Willie Mullins, Gavin Cromwell, Martin Brassil and Henry de Bromhead to name but a few of the Irish trainers involved can help relieve the bookmakers of some cash as they back their charges. It promises to be an exciting week racing and if you can't head across the water then Moroney's is the next best place to soak up the atmosphere and enjoy the craic while food will be provided each day to patrons.

Starting on Friday 8th March Moroney's Bar are delighted to bring a new brand of music to The Market with two gigs each weekend on a Friday and Saturday nights starting at 9pm . There has been a big demand for quite a while from patrons asking would it be possible to have some singer / guitarists playing the odd gig and in fairness to Maurice and Tomas they have run with this idea. Our regular Trad Session will now take place once a month on a Friday night.

The following is the schedule for March

Friday 8th March : Tommy Benn

Saturday 9th March : Sarah Croker

Friday 15th March : Marcus Moloney

Saturday 16th March : Fay Moloney

Friday 22nd March : Ali Woodford

Saturday 23rd March : Fay Moloney

Friday 29th March : Damien Gormley

Saturday 30th March : Bart Lever and Trish O Dea

So if you… Read more

The annual Ennis Book Festival takes place in the town from Friday 1st March to Sunday 3rd March inclusive. It gives those who have a love of books and reading to attend book launches, readings and to socialise while visiting our beautiful town. Most of the events which are listed below take place in venues around the town from The Templegate, Glor, The Old Ground Hotel, The Courthouse, Ennis Book Shop and The County Library among others. There is also a walking tour of the town on Saturday morning with Jane O Brien and this is certainly a must do for those visiting the town for the weekend as it gives a tremendous history of Ennis. Best Wishes and continued success to all involved with this excellent festival.

We Are Human Too launch (Book Launch)
Friday 1st March 12pm
Venue: The Temple Gate Hotel
Tickets: Free of charge and ticketed
Edited by Anne… Read more