A Galway businessman has found a way to bring the ‘authentic’ Irish pub experience to America.
The Irish pub is famous throughout the world as a place to meet great characters, listen to great music and of course enjoy ‘great craic’.
It was recently named as the number one attraction for tourists visiting from overseas. For those who have never been to Ireland, there are ‘Irish’ pubs in every city in the world.
While these themed pubs are good for conjuring images of Ireland and many are genuinely important centres for Irish communities in cities throughout the world, they are sometimes criticised for being too uniformed.
People who have visited pubs in various countries notice that they tend to look quite similar, all trying to capture what an Irish pub is expected to look like. In doing so, some critics say they lose the true unique character of the Irish pub.
Now Americans who would like the authentic pub experience without flying thousands of miles could visit a bar created by cabinet maker turned entrepreneur John Walsh.
John struggled to sell his battered 30-year-old caravan and decided to convert it into a traditional Irish bar. The result is ‘The Shebeen’ – an authentic pub on wheels.
It has proved to be a huge success and he is now branching out into sales. The first one will be heading to Boston soon.
He told the Irish Examiner: “We have already received an order to ship one of our designs to America.
“It will be very similar to the original Shebeen, except it will have a thatched roof, meaning it will really encapsulate that feeling of Irish tradition.
“My main aim is to get six to eight of them built next year and get them overseas, to Britain, America, Europe and the likes. It’s a unique product so it should travel well.”
It is a remarkable success story, especially considering that John had only created the original Shebeen as a team building project with his cabinet making colleagues.
The cabinet was given a new floor, roof, furniture, it was redecorated with antique pictures and memorabilia. It includes a bar, a cooler and two taps for draught beer.
The exterior has also been decorated to give the perfect pub effect.
He intended to keep the pub in his back garden but after getting a number of requests to hire it out he decided that that wasn’t such a bad idea.
For more information visit the Shebeen website
Take a look at the video below.
John isn’t the first entrepreneur to come up with a creative way to bring the Irish pub on tour – check out Caitriona Mulher’s venture, the pop up Irish pub
