BY JOHN FITZGERALD
Kilkenny mourned the passing of a great publican last week. Tom Brennan, who ran Phelan’s Bar in Parliament Street, had served the tipplers of the city since he began pulling pints there in the 1960s.
His many loyal customers underwent a different grieving eight years ago when Tom unexpectedly said goodbye to the vintner’s trade. Ill-health had come knocking at his door and Tom was left with no choice but to call last orders.
The closure sent shockwaves through the city, and I was among the visitors who called to St. Luke’s Hospital to wish him well. His funeral at St. Mary’s Cathedral evoked a rush of memories for the multitude of people who’d frequented his pub over the decades.
Phelan’s Bar, when Tom took it over, was one of the oldest in Kilkenny. It was founded in 1873 by Tom Phelan, who ran it until John Phelan took it over in 1906. John kept the show on the road until his death in 1944, aided by his wife, Mary-Ann Phelan and occasionally by his family: Tom, Jack, Paddy, Bridie and Mary Brennan (nee Phelan).
As the eldest of a family of four, Tom Brennan inherited the pub, and after a topnotch education at St. Kieran’s College and acquiring a wealth of experience as an apprentice barman, especially at the famed Lansdowne Bar in Dublin, he took up his position behind the counter of the venerable premises in Parliament Street.
Tom committed himself to running the bar in the grand old tradition of the cozy Irish pub that predates the introduction of live music gigs, or hen and stag parties.
Not that the pub was over-quiet or dull. It buzzed with conviviality and hosted the best of what Ireland’s tippling culture had to offer. Phelan’s was the first Kilkenny pub to host sing-songs, accompanied by piano music. If you listen to the words of Finnegan’s Wake, you’ll have a rough idea of the sessions involved. Noise pollution was unknown at Phelan’s. Instead of the relentless hypnotic beat of something that passes for music, there was friendly chat …free-flowing conversation, interspersed with a special calibre of wit.
The Darts and Rings HQ
At one point the pub became known as Phelan’s Number One due to its multi-prize winning darts and rings teams. The pub teams, comprised of the best players in Kilkenny, entered competitions on a regular basis and were feared as near invincible opponents by ring and dart throwers from across the city and even beyond its environs.
Week after week throughout the 1960s, 70s, and 80s Phelan’s Bar was feted as the Darts and Rings HQ par excellence. Tom also organized friendly soccer games locally, a hobby inspired by his youthful service at the Lansdowne bar.
Phelan’s Bar had two rooms divided by an elegant arch, to the right of which a quaint whiskey advertising plaque and a display of preserved vintage hurleys were mounted. Another nostalgic feature greeted you just inside the street entrance: the remnant of a snug that in bygone days drew the ladies of the district. That was in the days before women achieved parity of esteem in Irish pubs.
Phelan’s had an unusual claim to fame; never in its history had the guards been called to assist with unruly drinkers, and before the Garda force was established the RIC likewise never had cause to intervene.
Under Tom’s stewardship Phelan’s admitted of no generation gap, with people of all ages- tourists and locals- easily mixing and drinking in a welcoming atmosphere. The one guideline that Tom enforced; though gently and with the unswerving co-operation of his clientele, was Good Behaviour: No customer ever questioned the wisdom of this Golden Rule.
Tom did more than just serve drinks and Phelan’s was more than just a pub, a fact fondly alluded to at the Requiem Mass. Tom shared his uncanny knowledge and grasp of local issues and folklore. He helped tourists to trace their Irish ancestors or descendants.
Like many Kilkenny folk, he took pride in the remarkable story behind the naming of Parliament Street, letting visitors know that the city had itself once been the facto capital of Ireland. He rhapsodized about the 1640s Confederacy…our Golden Age.
Big hurling fan
Above all, he was an expert on Kilkenny’s long hurling history. On the walls, vintage hurling paraphernalia and depictions of heroic teams alternated with a homage to Irish pub culture.
At St. Kiernan’s College, in addition to being a star pupil, Tom had excelled at sports. In particular, he developed a passion for Gaelic Games. As a youth he hurled, sprinted and pucked; savouring every nail-baiting moment of his stint on the fields of glory.
From the day he began serving at Phelan’s Bar, his fastidious pursuit of the week-by-week fortunes of the county hurling team fired the local imagination. Customers loved to hear his home-spun versions of what happened at each showdown, whether at national or inter-county level.
In later years he took to recording every televised match, and if you were having a drink and wondered what really happened when a player failed, or seemed to fail, to score a point or a goal, or if there was the slightest doubt as to the outcome of the action, he’d have the remote control rewinding or fast-forwarding to get to the nub of the issue. The State Forensic lab couldn’t have been more meticulous in laying bare the truth about the latest Gaelic Athletic outing.
A woman with an angelic voice sang The Rose of Mooncoin at the Requiem Mass and the first offertory gift to be presented was, aptly enough, a hurley. Tom’s sister, Teasie, gave a moving talk about his journey through time at Phelan’s, and the other gifts at the altar each denoted aspects of his life.
The hurley was followed by a picture of his beloved dog Brandy, a border collie that was a loyal friend to Tom and a big hit in the bar. And a crossword-puzzle: Tom solved thousands of them, sometimes drawing customers into a labyrinthine search for answers as the clock ticked towards midnight.
Though the earthly clock may have stopped ticking for him at Archersrath nursing home, where he was cared for by highly motivated staff, Tom will have many a friend to meet him on the “Other Side.”
Farewell to the people’s publican!
(Predeceased by his parents Brian and Mary J. Brennan (nee Phelan) and his sister Beatrice (Treacy). Deeply regretted by his sister Teasie (Brennan) and his brother Eugene, sister-in-law Anne and brother-in-law Pat. Tom will be forever missed by his nieces and nephews, Jean, Bernadette, Patrick, Brian, Bryan, Martin and Diarmuid, and other relatives, friends and customers)
