Moroney's Bar

Well it's a sure sign winter is here when you have the Ennis Trad Festival about to get into full swing on Thursday evening next.The festival is a great celebration of Irish traditional music, song and dance and this year there is a record 13 CD launches. For those of you interested in ordering copies of theses CD's and many others Custy's in Cooke's Lane just off O Connell Street is the place to go and you are sure to get a great welcome from proprietor John O Connor. Here in Moroney's Charlie and his team have some great musicians lined up over the five days and hopefully the weather is kind for patrons who will be going on the pub session trail over the five day festival.

Musicians such as Marcus Moloney, Michael Butler, Martin Breene, Kieran Kissane, Blackie O Connell, Murty Ryan, Dermot Lernihan, John Joe Kelly, Martin Dermody,Maurice… Read more

On Thursday night last the O Loughlin and O Brien families gathered in Moroney's to celebrated the home coming of John O Loughlin and Carol O Brien following their honeymoon. The happy couple celebrated their wedding on 21st September in the Ennis Cathedral followed by a reception in The Armada Hotel, Spanish Point. Both John and Carol are working in Dublin and have been a item since their early teens. On the night many of their family and friends turned up and John's parents Eamonn and Ruth and Carol's parents Martin and Joan were on hand to welcome everybody.

Stories were swapped and plenty of slagging took place and a great nigh was had by one and all. On the night John White provided a feast of food and Ger Hanrahan kept the refreshments flowing, well done and thanks guys. All at Moroney's would like to wish John and Carol many… Read more

No sooner has the All Ireland Championships of 2012 been completed but the draw for the 2013 Championships were made live on RTE 2 last night. Once again Davy Fitzgerald's Clare hurlers will play Waterford in the Q/F of the Munster Championship with the winners meeting Cork in the S/F. On the other side of the draw Tipperary play Limerick in the S/F so all in all from a Clare point of view one has to be happy with this draw.

In the Munster Football Championship the power houses Cork and Kerry have been seeded and The Rebels will start their defence with a tie vs Limerick with the winners to play Clare in the S/F. On the other side of the draw Kerry play Tipperary with the winners meeting Waterford in the S/F. While the Clare footballers will be happy enough with this draw much work has to be… Read more

After worked at the weekends in Moroney's since it reopened in June 2005 Irene Hehir has bade farewell as she takes a break from bar work for the foreseeable future. As everyone knows Irene is one of the driving forces behind the Lifford Ladies Soccer Club and has the distinction of representing the Republic at International level on many occasions.

It is with this in mind that Irene has taken up some coaching roles at the weekends with Lifford and will no doubt impart some of her extensive knowledge and skill to the next generation of young footballers. All her friends and customers at Moroney's wish Irene continued success in her new role and look forward to seeing her outside the counter in the future for a drink or two.

On Tuesday last Charlie O Meara organized his 8th annual outing to the Listowel Races for his staff and customers.Always a might day out and this year was no exception. We met in Moroneys at 9.30 for some refreshments and a hour later we were on the road to Listowel. A compulsory stop is The Swanky Bar in Tarbert where the owner JP Prendiville laid on a feast of food and copious pints of Guinness and beer. Marty Ryan organized a mini pool tournament while we were there and Paddy Collins won the pot.

It was on to Listowel then and while some went to the races other hit the local hostelries in the town to sample some of their hospitality.This is the 154th Anniversary of the races and being on for a week is a major source of revenue for the town. Now Irish racing is notoriously hard to… Read more

On Tuesday last Moroney's lost one of it's oldest customers when Paddy Culliney from Cloughleigh passed to his eternal rest. Paddy was a customer for over 50 years and was one of life's true gentlemen. He worked in Gardisette (curtain factory on Clonroad now long gone) and later at Braid's on Station Road. Paddy was a dapper dresser and when calling to Gerry's for his customary drop of whiskey and pint of Guinness he always wore a suit and tie. His life long buddy Paddy Ryan (St Michael's Villas) would always be in his company and as kids growing up both my brother James and I would always be treated to the bottle of orange from Paddy at the weekends.

Paddy was a avid reader and could hold a conversation in any company.He was always the quiet man in the corner who wouldn't say much but when he spoke you certainly… Read more

It was with deep sadness that we heard yesterday morning of the passing of our dear friend and Ennislusc member Jimmy Allard. A native of Mullingar, Jimmy grew up on the banks of the Royal Canal where he swam and fished as a young boy.Here he learnt how to set night lines to catch the pike which were decimating the trout stock and so his love of fly fishing began. Jimmy moved to Newmarket on Fergus in the 60's living in Ballycar with his wife Cait and indeed winning a Junior County Football Championship with Maughaun. The family then moved to the Turnpike in Ennis and later on to Beechpark where Jimmy resided until his untimely death.

Jimmy was well known around the town and county in his business life as a chimney sweep. However Jimmy was far ahead of his time in this respect having machines when the old brushes… Read more

All Ireland U21 Final, Thurles 15th September Clare 2-17 Kilkenny 2-11

A superb second half performance where Clare held Kilkenny to just four points (3 from frees) secured a second All Ireland U21 title for the young Bannermen. Clare enjoyed an excellent start to the game, when good work from Captain Conor McGrath set up Catal O’Connell for the game’s first goal as The Banner stormed into a 1-05 to 0-02 after eight minutes. Wing backs Pat O Connor and Seadna Morey scored two excellent points in that first half but it was the Cats who grabbed the game with to goals in three minutes just before half time.

The first was from a penalty ,give for Tulla's David McInerney holding back John Power who converted the penalty to level the score.Then as the game entered injury time corner forward Ger Aylward latched on to a long ball and gave Ronan Taffee… Read more

With nearly 800 photos in our gallery we though it would be a good idea to streamline it and make it more manageable for viewers to navigate. So with this in mind we have been tweaking the design to make it more user friendly.

Our new Facebook page is managed by John White and we thank him sincerely for his daily uploads and witty photos. If anyone has any ideas on how we can enhance the site or comments to make please feel free to used the guestbook or email john@moroneysbar.com.

Last weekend many of Moroney's loyal customers including The Boss Charlie O Meara, set off for Adamstown ,Co Wexford to attend the wedding of TJ Scanlan and his bride Averil Furlong. Now we have all heard about the Sunny South East and Wexford is known in many circles as The Model County, The Slaneysiders or The Yellowbellies but the one thing that struck us all was the quality of the land. Now it's not that we know much about farming but with not a rush in sight, acres of tillage and crops of all description, one could not but admire the beautiful countryside and of course buckets of sunshine.

Adamstown is a picturesque village around 23K from Wexford town and probably best know as the home of Irish soccer star Kevin Doyle who incidentally is a great family friend of the Furlongs. Unfortunately he couldn't make the wedding as he was… Read more

In what was a fantastic result for all the hard work of Ennis UDC and all it's loyal volunteers, Ennis received the Award for Ireland's Largest Urban Area in the 2012 Super Value Tidy Towns Awards which were announced yesterday. Ennis gained 313 pts and was also awarded a Gold Medal in Cat G,the Gum Litter Task Award (Urban Winner),Tourism Award (Failte Ireland), The County Award and a Regional Award ( Mid West) which was a truly tremendous achievement.

Anyone walking through Ennis and it's enviorns can only admire the beautiful floral displays and note the cleanliness of the streets and that every sign post and metal pillars are painted.It is only right that we should feel proud of our town and the sterling work that many dedicated people are putting in to help us achieve these National Awards. Around the county there was a Endeavor Awards for Connolly (… Read more

Growing up in Ennis one takes it for granted about the amount of lanes in the town but do we all know their correct names ? Many towns people call the lanes by their adopted names such as Quinn's Lane, Enzo's Lane, The Beehive Lane, Ganga's Lane and so on but it's always a source of discussion especially in pub quizzes as to their correct names. Some years back the Ennis UDC decided to put plaques up on the lanes identifying them but if you asked most town's people where Shank's Lane is I very much doubt they would be able to tell you unless they are of a certain vintage.

It was with this in mind that that we decided to do a feature on the lanes of Ennis and hopefully put a end to all the debates. In the photo gallery you will find a section with Lanes Of… Read more

Last Sunday at the Staples Centre in Los Angeles the 25th SummerSlam WWE (professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV)) took place and our own Gearoid was there to enjoy the event. Having got into watching wrestling on Sky Sports and following the SummerSlam down the years it was always a ambition of his to perhaps one day attend the event and so it happened this year.

After weeks of searching his luck finally came up trumps when he secured his precious ticket all-be at a exorbitant price. Highlight of the trip was meeting John Cena (12 time World Champion and actor) and also getting to see Mike "The Miz" Mizanin (his favourite wrestler) retain his Intercontinental Title.

On Sunday last at the Ennis Golf Club TJ Scanlan won the title of Golfer Of The Year Award following the final points scoring competition of the season. TJ was 17pts ahead going into the weekend from his nearest rival Leo Herbert and he held on to win the title by 15pts. This is a tremendous achievement for TJ who's late grandfather Tony Kenny introduced him to the game. All his friends at Moroney's wish TJ continued success on the fairways and on his upcoming marriage to Ms Averil Furlong on 8th September in Adamstown,Co Wexford.But more about that big day later !

Finally after the Euro 2012 Championship and the Olympics all soccer fans are looking forward to the start of the 2012/2013 season on Saturday with much anticipation. And for all Leeds fans as we kick off our Championship with a live TV game against last season's Premiership boys, Wolves at Elland Road the dream of most fans is promotion or at the very least a top six finish. Manager Neil Warnock has been extremely busy in the transfer market bring in Jason Pearce, David Norris, Luke Varney, Paddy Kenny,Jamie Ashdown, Adam Drury, Paul Green, Rodoplh Austin, Andy Grey and El Hadji Diouf (who certainly will not be popular with many United fans) so there will be a lot of new faces on show come 12.45pm.

Immediately following the game Ennislusc will hold our Annual AGM in Moroney's Bar, Market Street.As usual the election of officers, proposed trips for the season,… Read more

U21 Munster Hurling Final, Cusack Park, Wed 8th August

Clare 1-16 Tipperary 1-14

The Banner boys entered the game at 1/3 favourites after their demolition of Waterford in the semi final while Tipp who had accounted for Cork and last years Champions Limerick were on offer at 11/4. Many of the official crowd of 8,739 at Cusack Park were in a state of shock with Tipp leading by a point as the game entering the two minutes of injury time signaled by referee John Sexton. Then up stepped the three substitutes Cathal McInerney, Peter Duggan and Inagh -Kilnamona's Niall Arthur to turn a defeat into a unlikely victory. This set off great celebrations which banished the memories of 2008 when The Banner lost the final at the same venue to Tipp with a disputed refereeing decision ( disallowing a Clare free and deeming Clare goalkeeper Donal Touhy for stepping outside… Read more

While strolling down the streets of Ennis recently I was asked by a American gentleman for directions to Brogan's Bar in O Connell Street and it dawned on me that I should do a pictorial tour of the pubs of the town. Like everything it is only when you take the time and effort to check out such things that you realize we have a fantastic selection of bars on our doorstep. Unfortunately over the years many pubs have closed their doors such as McEvoy's (Upper Market St), Pauline McInerney's (Upper Market St), Flan Bar (Carmody St), Henry J's (Upper Market St), The Derrynane (O Connell St), Tuohy's and Paddy Arthur's (Parnell St), The Arkle Inn ( O Connell St), The Corner Bar (Parnell St) and Darcy's (better know as Cheers) to mention but a few. The Irish pub is a unique experience and we in Ennis are fortunate with… Read more

Yesterday history was made on the streets of Cardiff when Ennis native and Ultra Marathoner Keith Whyte became the first Irishman to win the 100K Anglo Celtic Plate. To us mere mortals 100K equates to 62 miles 241 yds and to do so in a PB of 7hrs 16 mins was a awesome achievement on Keith's part considering he only took up running in 2007. Recently I had to get one of my car tyres replaced at Pat Foudy and Daughters garage on Mill Road and it was Keith who did the job. We got speaking about running and he told me he was running 180-200mls per week and I was astounded as I don't even driving that many miles in a week ! That just puts into context the dedication, determination, sacrifices and drive that Keith has to achieve his goal while at the same time holding down a… Read more

On Saturday morning while John White was getting ready to open Moroney's he could hear someone playing guitar and singing outside on the street. On opening the door John found young Barry Sunderland busking outside the door and giving a rendition of the Stockton's Wing song Strange Affair. Barry was wondering if he would have to move on but John reassured him that he would only be good for business.

Barry who has been playing guitar since he was seven enjoys busking around town and also is in the process of starting a band with his friends Richard Daly, Oisin Bates and Ethan O Brien. As of yet they have not decided on a name but as Barry says it's a work in progress. Even the Market's oldest resident Peggy Kearney was impressed with Barry's music as she stopped to drop some money in Barry's kitty. We look forward to hearing… Read more

On Saturday all roads lead to Thurles where Clare take on Limerick in the All Ireland Hurling Qualifiers with a place in the last eight at stake. After a super win over Dublin last weekend (when Clare were reduced to 14 men just a minute into the 2nd half when Nicky O Connell was sent off but rallied to beat a fancied Dublin team by three points on a scoreline of 1-16 to 0-16) it is a big ask for a young Banner side to face into a tough match just seven days later. They have already played Limerick three times this season in the Waterford Crystal and National League and the Shannonsiders have yet to beat The Banner.

However the bookies make Limerick 5/6 favourites and it's hard to argue with those odds.The game is live on TV at 7pm so if you are not going to Thurles drop in… Read more