An integral piece of Irish film history, JJ Devine’s Pub, as featured in multi-award nominated film Banshees of Inisherin, has been preserved forever with its restoration and relocation to Mee’s Bar in Kilkerrin, east Galway.
It played a core part in one of the biggest Irish films in history, a venue Taylor Swift said she would love to visit and has been celebrated all over the world as being a thing many wished were real, a real place where you could toddle in and witness the site where the iconic ‘I just don’t like you no more’ line was delivered.
Described as a ‘black comedy’, Banshees of Inisherin takes place during the Irish Civil War on the fictional island of Inisherin, a beautiful place but not one to sever a lifelong friendship, an action which led to four severed fingers, a choked donkey, tragic deaths and arson. Starring some of the best talent Ireland has to offer, including; a reunited Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell, Kerry Condon, Pat Shortt, Barry Keoghan, Jon Kenny, Bríd Ní Neachtain and many more, it received international recognition after its release.
The 2022 blockbuster directed by Martin McDonagh, was many things; a depiction of friendship, rejection and island life, but it was also a love letter written to the west coast of Ireland, specifically Galway and Mayo. Primarily filmed in two locations, the rocky harsh relief of Achill Island and coastal flat lands of Inis Mór, many aspects of the film were adapted from real structures, or purpose-built with no plans to convert into a permanent structure and JJ Devine’s Pub was in the latter category.
Created by the film’s prop department, JJ Devine’s Pub was purpose built in Cloughmore, an idyllic location in Achill Island overlooking the sea. Without planning permission and no plan for a surviving structure, the pub was created using temporary materials that could be erected quickly and taken down once the project ended. Filmed over the course of three months, ending in October 2021, Cloughmore was once again reverted back to its beautiful original self sans JJ’s with the iconic building reduced to a pile in a yard nearby, unused and unwanted as life went back to normal. The disassembled set remained in the yard for months until Kilkerrin local and publican, Luke Mee, retrieved it and began the large and arduous process of rebuilding and restoring.
Sought out
Shortly after the film’s premiere, social media posts and articles about shooting locations and venues went up in the hundreds. For the first time since The Quiet Man fame in the 1950s, the west coast of Ireland was under a global lens inspiring tours, pictures and even wedding elopements to locations in Galway and Mayo.
Such was the appreciation for Banshees that it was nominated for a whopping 51 awards including 10 British Film and Television Awards (BAFTA ), 11 Irish Film and Television Awards (IFTA ), eight Golden Globe Awards, nine Oscars and multiple international recognition ceremonies.
In a Variety Fair Directors on Directors interview between director, Martin McDonagh, and superstar Taylor Swift, JJ Devine’s Pub was the focus of one of her first questions, with her querying if it was real and expressing her disbelief that something purpose built could look so real and like it had been part of the fictional island of Inisherin for centuries. When McDonagh suggested that if the film did really well, that it could be rebuilt, an idea Swift quickly validated saying she would like to come and visit.
Swift is not alone, with thousands of tweets from Banshees audience lamenting about the pub not being real, one even saying “would absolutely love to get drunk in the pub in Banshees of Inisherin.”
Colin Farrell himself tried to return to the pub’s location, hoping to bring his two sons to see the set of one of his most successful films, when he arrived however, it was long gone.
One of the top linked search suggestions on Google for The Banshees of Inisherin is ‘Is JJ Devine’s Pub real?’ and now, thanks to Mee, the answer is yes.
The pilgrimage to Kilkerrin
Once Mee got the green light to take the disassembled pub from where it was sitting in Achill Island, aided by friends he made the long journey of some 180 kilometres to bring it home, and got thinking about how to best restore it to its former glory, and all that thinking has definitely paid off.
The structure as it stands now, is entirely the original. Even down the glass panes used in the film to depict Padraic (played by Colin Farrell ) staring morosely out the window waiting for friend-turned-foe Colm (played by Brendan Gleeson ), the original elements have been preserved by Mee, his family and his gang of willing helpers who have helped to keep east Galway’s biggest secret since time began. Like the film itself, the Mee household is a blend of Achill Island and Galway, with his wife originally from very near the island’s filming locations and had family working in connection with the film.
“A few months had gone by since the filming finished and I heard the set had been taken down and was in a yard in Achill, but in very good condition. I waited for a period of time to see if anyone else showed any interest before taking it to Kilkerrin. I had the space to put it out the back of Mee’s Bar and that I would be able to restore it and preserve it, so I brought it here,” said Mee while taking a very deserved break from helping to thatch the roof of the newly acquired film artefact. Owner of a long-established pub in Kilkerrin, the Mee family’s workload has doubled, if not tripled, in the past few months, with every available hand assisting in the super-secret venture.
“It would not have been possible without the help of family, good friends and neighbours who have given up their time and energy to come and help this very important project.
“The pub is such a big part of film history and it is important to maintain it and make it into something that people can come to visit with their friends and enjoy, although we have a ban on cutting fingers off and throwing them.”
A place to make or break friendships
With the interior having to be shortened slightly to fit it within the large barn out the back of Mee’s pub, there have been some adaptions necessary to keep the integrity of the structure. Built using materials that are not designed to weather the storm of Galway’s erratic seasons, the pub is now protected by a large shed, keeping the newly thatched roof and restored walls dry. Once you cross the threshold, it is like you are in the film, the dark wood of the bar remains, flanked by wooden benches and illuminated by flickering lamps. Now set up to be an actual functional pub, JJ Devine’s will soon be serving pints across the bar for the first time ever.
The first free pint is reserved though, says Mee, for Taylor Swift.
“She would be very welcome to come to see the pub and enjoy herself and enjoy JJ Devine’s first free pint.”
Premiere
While it won’t boast the idyllic sea views from the film, you won’t need to travel to a fictional island to get to it.
JJ Devine’s Pub located in Mee’s Bar, Kilkerrin, will open to the public this Friday, with an official launch party that promises to bring all of the craic from the film and none of the dull, being planned for next month.
There are hopes that the establishment of JJ’s in Kilkerrin will help drive traffic to the area and to boost local economy as well as preserving a film artefact while still allowing people to enjoy it. While this may be a win for Kilkerrin, this will no doubt create tsunami sized waves in neighbouring towns and villages like Glenamaddy, Clonberne and Dunmore.
Taylor Swift isn’t the only mega celebrity invited to the event, with an invitation extended to the film’s cast to come and enjoy JJ Devine’s in its reincarnation and actually be able to drink a pint while doing so.
