06/06/2023
The famous JJ Devine’s Pub as featured in the The Banshees Of Inisherin has reopened its doors today - In Galway!
The news has come as a major surprise to many in Achill who were unaware that the set still existed and some are asking questions as to how it was ever allowed to leave Achill!
JJ Devine’s Pub — as featured in the award-winning film, Banshees of Inisherin — will be unveiled to the public at its new home in East Galway this afternoon.
The iconic pub, which has been relocated and restored in Mee's Bar, Kilkerrin, will open to the public for the first time at lunch-time (today). It hoped to host an official opening on July 1st.
“We kept it a secret for so long, but we’re delighted to show off the pub to the public for the first time,” Luke Mee, owner of Mee’s Bar, told the Roscommon Herald on Friday morning.
“We’re delighted and really proud that it has turned out so well. There will be a wonderful atmosphere in the place — no televisions, no radios, just talking as it used to be in an Irish pub all those years ago,” continued Luke, who also runs Daybreak in Knockcroghery and the local XL Store beside his pub in Kilkerrin.
JJ Devine’s Pub was built by the film crew in Achill Island, overlooking the sea, specifically for the Banshees of Inisherin. After the filming ended in October 2021, the disassembled set remained in a nearby yard for months until Luke retrieved it and began the mammoth and arduous process of rebuilding and restoring it.
Once the Kilkerrin publican got the green light to take the disassembled pub from where it was sitting in Achill Island, he transported it to East Galway and began restoring the pub to its former glory with the help of family, friends and neighbours.
The structure that now stands proudly in Mee’s Bar is entirely the original set, although the interior had to be shortened slightly to fit it within the large barn out the back of the pub.
Luke hopes that the publicity surrounding the pub from the film will put Kilkerrin on the map and he had a message for American singer-songwriter, Taylor Swift, who has expressed an interest in visiting the pub.
“She gets the first free pint if she comes,” he laughed.
Starring Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, Kerry Condon and Barry Keoghan, the Banshees of Inisherin has been 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.
Source Roscommon Hearld.
