Moroney's Bar

Today Ennis loses one of it's most eligible bachelors Pat Hennessy when he marry's the gorgeous Karrieann McDonald from Clarecastle. Pat is an adopted Ennisman having arrived in the town from Dublin ( he was posted to Moneypoint with the ESB ) in the late 70's and played with Hermitage and later served as an officer with Cloughleigh Celtic. To all who know Pat they will know that his only love over the years was for Man United but that's all going to change now me think.
Both Pat and Karrieann are fitness fanatics so it's safe to bet their honeymoon will involve a lot of exercise ! All their friends at Moroney's wish the happy couple long life ,health and happiness. Congratulations - United at last.

Last year to celebrate 21 years playing soccer together Martin O Brien and Ger Hanrahan decided that we should honour the occassion and go to Barcelona to watch Barca play in the famous Camp Nou. Such was the success of the trip that it was decided to try and make these an annual event and this weekend we are off to the home of hurling Kilkenny. We will be staying in the Kilford Arms which has great connections with Ennis through the Dinan family from St Michael's Villas. Indeed it was through this connection that Ger Hanrahan got in touch with his old next door neighbour Michael (Champ) Dinan and now everything is planned for a great weekend.

As always one can expect some great laughs and the odd sing song but is'nt that what friendship is all about. Squad For Kilkenny ; Ger Hanrahan, Martin O Brien, John Casey,… Read more

At lunchtime on Saturday next Moroney's should be rocking when two supporters clubs meet to see their favourites do battle in two do or die games. The Celtic and Leeds United Supportes Clubs which both have Moroney's as their local will be glued to the TV's when Celtic play arch rivals Rangers in the top of the table Premier League fixture and Leeds play Millwall in the 1st leg of the League 1 play off.

As both games are timed only fifteen minutes apart, the Celtic (KO 12.30) followers will encamp in the lower bar while the Leeds (KO 12.45) faithful will take to the front bar and also the smoking area. The banter should be good and if both teams win then you can be sure The Fields of Athenry and Marching On Together will be heard ringing around the Market.

Two new paintings that are due to adorn the walls in Moroney's shortly are paintings by well know Ennis artist Harry Guinnane. Indeed regulars on the website will be acquainted with Harry's work as he has done two paintings already relating to the pub one of the front of Moroney's and the other of Gerry and Mary Moroney which can bee seen in the picture gallery.

On this occasion the first of the paintings depict one of the original bottle labels that was used when Moroney's bottled their own stout. The date shown on the painting is the 13th of September 1923 which is from the original bottle label and was bottled by Gerry's father John. Bottling in Moroney's was carried out until 1964 and when the pub was renovated over four years ago 100 dozen bottles were disposed of from that era.

The second painting is of an original paper… Read more

Well the last weekend of March '09 will last long in the memories of Leeds football coaches Terence Potter (Chief Academy Scout), Christopher Coates (Under 12 Academy Coach), Philip Wilson (Under 16 Academy Coach) and Denis Oates (Under 14 Academy Coach) thanks to the hospitality of the Avenue United club and members of the Ennislusc club. The coaches were in Ennis to conduct a coaching weekend at the Lees Road Complex and also to sample some of the Ennis nightlife. On the Friday night they visited Moroney's along with Gearoid Mannion, Kevin Keenan, Gary Seery, Gerry Costelloe and Gearoid Walsh of Avenue United for their monthly 200 Club Draw. Incidentally the winner of the €1,000 top prize on the night was Patricia O Donnell who is physio with Avenue United and in a very gererous gesture she bought a round of drinks for the house.

Representing Ennislusc on the night… Read more

On Friday 27th of March at 9pm in Moroney's Avenue United will hold their 200 Club Draw. There to make the draw on the night will be Leeds United football coaches ( Terence Potter Chief Academy Scout, Christopher Coates Under 12 Academy Coach, Philip Wilson Under 16 Academy Coach and Denis Oates Under 14 Academy Coach) who are in town for the weekend as guest of Avenue and will be holding coaching sessions in Lees Road on Saturday and Sunday.

Given that Moroney's is home to the Ennis Leeds United Supporters Club it's ironic that over twenty five club members will be in Elland Road on that weekend for the clash of Leeds and the MKDons. However Ennislusc will be well represented on the night and it's hoped to make a presentation to the coaches on behalf of the supporters club. Ennislusc and Moroney's are also sponsoring the Avenue Utd… Read more

Last September we brought you the story of the Rineanna Syndicate and the greyhound pup the bought from the Buckley family in Doon, County Limerick. Well the greyhound is now fourteen months old and has been named officially with the ICC as Delta One. Now for those of you not in the know Delta might mean a plane ( belong to Delta Airlines ) or a financial brokerage company and you would be correct in your assumption. However to the syndicate which is made up of many Airport Police officers and Moroney regulars it is one of the taxiways in Shannon Airport which they patrol many times a day as part of their duty.

Now it's time for the syndicate to decide who they will get to train Delta and this will be decided before the end of the month as it's hoped Delta will start training in April. Then it's… Read more

On Friday next Ger Hanrahan ( ex Avenue Utd, Newmarket Celtic and Villa Utd star) will retire from Element Six ( former De Beers) after over 31 years service. Ger however does'nt intend to give up work completely for the good life and has some plans up his sleeve. However he does intend to play a little more golf ( a dab hand he's at that too), continue to play indoor soccer on Tuesday night's in St Flannan's and spend time with his good wife Mairead and their daughters Janice and Sarah along with grandchildren Colin and Sean Thomas. Looks like Hanna will have a full diary ahead of him .

All at Moroney's wish Ger a long happy and healthy retirement and hope to see him for a few celebratory pints !

On Friday 31st of January last the Ennis Chelsea Supporters Club brought over Kerry Dixon, the great Chelsea striker of the 80's to meet their members and visit the town. The club who meet in Moroney's for matches and meetings introduced Kerry to their members and locals alike and the hero obliged by signing autographs and posing for photographs.

It was all thanks to the efforts of Jim McMahon, Tony Guilfoyle, Colm Fitzgerald, Michael Ryan and Donie Walsh that took Kerry over to Ennis and he also attended their social evening in the Templegate Hotel on the Saturday night. Kerry was fascinated that in the pub supporters of Liverpool, Man U, Everton, Leeds and otheres mixed freely with Chelsea fans something which in his experience would not happen in an English pub. As their was a trad session in the pub at the time ( Siobhan Peoples and friends) he… Read more

Along with our regular Trad Sessions on Wednesday and Thursday nights which have been a great success since Moroneys was refurbished, Brian John McCarthy has added a Friday night session to the schedule. This have been running for the past number of weeks and it has proved such a success with Siobhan Peoples and friends that Brian has made this a permenant session.
Now one can enjoy three nightly sessions in a row with top class musicians in a quaint atmosphere. Thanks to Brian John and all his staff, Moroney's is securing a great reputation for traditional music. Well done to all concerned.

Put the Tuesday the 3rd of March in your diary as Moroney's Second Annual Sports Quiz in aid of Cahercalla Hospital will take place at 9.00pm. Teams will consist of three members at €30 per team and last year over 20 teams took part. This year it is hope to at least equal if not better this figure for such a worthy cause that touches all in our society.
As always you'll be guaranteed a great night with food, spot prizes and plenty of crack on offer. HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE !

Two well know townies and Tage men Pat Millie Ryan and Shaun Bombs McCarthy spent Christmas at home in Ennis. Pat is living in Hamburg with his wife Marian and three kids while Shaun lives in the USA with his wife Maureen and their two daughters. Maureen's dad is Simon O Donnell one of the founders of Eire Og and of course Shaun brother Brian John runs Moroney's.

It was Pat first time spending Christmas in Ennis in twelve years and he really enjoyed his time meeting all his old friends and family and also drinking a pint or two in Moroney's. Shaun on the other hand is a regular visitor home since his transfer from Roche in Clarecastle to their base in the States some years ago. He met up with his friends Paul Nihill, Eoin Doohan and Enda Howard over the Christmas and no doubt they discussed the fortunes… Read more

Monday the 29th of December turned out be be a great night with a big crowd in for the annual Christmas draw. Tickets had been on sale for the previous three weeks and as usual the 100 club sold out in double quick time. the results are as follows :

1st Prize Weekend away for 2 at the Kilford Arms,Kilkenny - Eddie Johnston / PJ O Leary

2nd Prize Dinner for Two (€100) plus two tickets to Stockton's Wing - Geoff Spellman

3rd Prize Massive Christmas Hamper - Chloe Purtill

4th Prize Slab of Heineken - Mairead Moloney

5th Prize Slab of Bulmers - Sharon Ball

6th Prize Slab Of Budweiser - Chris Shannon

7th Prize Bottle Of Brandy - Ian Mounsey

8th Prize Bottle Of Jameson - Brendan Woods

9th Prize Bottle of Vodka - Gary Twoomey

10th Prize Bottle of Baccardi - Sharon Ball

Many thanks to all our patrons who subscribed to the draw and for your continued… Read more

Tickets are now on sale for the Moroney's 100 Member Christmas Club where there are some fabulous prizes to be won. Ticket's are priced at €2 and first prize is a weekend away in the Kilford Arms in Kilkenny. Also on offer are second prize of €100 plus two tickets to see the one off reunion of the famous Stockton's Wing in the West County Inn at the end of January.
Third prize is a massive hamper and there are also slabs of Heineken, Budweiser, Bulmers along with bottles of brandy and whiskey on offer. So get your ticket early and be in with a great chances of one of these great prizes. Thanking all our customers for their continued and loyal support.

We are comeing to the end of another year and despite the doom and gloom around with the economy at the moment you are assured of great night if you choose Moroney's for your Christmas party or just drop in for a festive drink. Brian John and all his staff would like to take this opportunity to thank all our loyal customers and friends for their continued support and look forward to meeting them over the festive period.

As usual there will be trad sessions every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights and complimentary food will be given to any groups haveing their Christmas Party's in Moroney's. All the big sports fixtures will be catered for and on Sat. 27th Dec the Ennis No1 Branch of the Celtic Supporters Club will be in Moroney's as usual for the Old Firm game (K.0. 12.30pm). Surely a game not to be missed !

If it's… Read more

The Ennis Tidy Towns Awards for 2008 are being presented in the Clare County Council New Headquarters on New Road this evening and it marks a four in a row award for Moroney's. This is a fantastic achievement considering Ennis won the overall National Award for large urban areas and also the county award so it's nice to have played a small part in achieving these awards.
Moroney's prides itself in have a year round floral display of window boxes and it's always nice to get positive feedback from customers and the general public alike. Well done to all concerned and now let's strive for number five next year.

The fifteenth Ennis Trad Festival which ran from November 6th to 10th inclusive was an outstanding success with visitor numbers and musicians reaching new levels. As always Moroney's played it's part and had some outstanding sessions from Wednesday through to Sunday evening. The list of musicians that played is as follows :

Wed 5th Nov. Marcus Moloney, Kieran Kissane, Martin Dermody, Kevin Ryan and friends.

Thurs 6th Nov. Martin Breen, Michael Butler, Anne Marie McCormack and friends.

Fri 7th Nov. Siobhan Peoples, Murty Ryan, John Kelly and friends.

Sat 8th Nov. Ronan Moloney, Carmel O Dea, Kieran Hehir and friends.

Sun 9th Nov. Marcus Moloney, Mags Moloney, Murt Ryan and friends.

The Friday night gig turned into a mega session with at one stage fifteen musicians giveing it their all ( see picture gallery) and everyone present had a whale of a night. All the sessions where packed out and it's a tribute to Brian John… Read more

Preparations are at an advanced stage for the charity soccer tournament for the Moroneys Bar Shield which will take place in the Fairgreen on Saturday, October 18th. Members of the Avenue Ramblers led by Pat Basil Whelan and Jacko McMahon and the Jim McMahon led Chelsea Supporters Club are training hard for the match which is the 10th Anniversary of an event organised to collect money for local charities.

The winners of that game will take on the Eddie Walsh managed Moroneys All Stars in the final. Kick off in the Fairgreen is at 4pm and all are welcome wheather you want to take part or just enjoy the crack. For further information contact Basil at 086-3859003 or Jim McMahon on 086-8119086.Good on you lads. Guess we'll have a party in Moroneys on Saturday night - be there !

Last Sunday was a day of double delight for our own Irene Hehir. The very popular Irene who serves in Moroneys every weekend celebrated winning a county senior football medal with the Banner Ladies and also her birthday. Irene who lined out at corner forward also scored a goal in their defeat of the West Clare Gaels. This was a great victory for the Ennis team who were winning their first senior title since their foundation in 1994.

One person who derived great joy from Irene's achievement was Gerry Moroney who is now in his 80's and is himself the holder of four senior football medals with the Ennis Faughs. Hopefully this is the first of many senior titles to come for the Banner Ladies in the years ahead and all at Moroneys congratulate Irene and her team mates on their first title.

Banner Ladies Squad : Emma O Driscoll, Niamh Martin,… Read more

Last May ten work colleagues from Aer Rianta ( now DAA) got together to form a syndicate with the intention of buying a greyhound pup. Included in the syndicate are Moroney regulars Enda Howard, his dad Noel, Austin Clair, Johnny Moroney and an old next door neighbour from the Market and ex Clare hurler Michael McNamara. Along with Gerry (Murt) O Connor, Pat Ryan, Declan Cullinan, Val O Sullivan, Jason Roche and Stephen Whynne the syndicate decided on the name Delta One as the greyhounds racing name.

The dog was purchased from the Buckley family from Pallasgreen,County Limerick and is by Droopsy Kewell ( hope he's nothing to injury prone Harry of Leeds and Liverpool fame )and out of a bitch called Velvet Kizzy. He is a beautiful blue January dog and it's hoped to have him racing in Galway and Limerick in April or May next year. Obviously one always… Read more