Pig & Whistle, Portlaw

This is the night I’d been waiting for….time to visit the Pig & Whistle, an infamous Portlaw pub that I had been told I must visit. It has a small unassuming frontage. When you open the door the first thing you think is that it looks like it is still under construction. It is basic, very basic. Super cheap fittings, the seats were like concrete and a new room had been recently added to the venue, seemingly the smoking room as everyone walked the 8 feet from the bar to this room and lit up….no walls separating it, nothing to stop the smoke permeating all throughout the place. It was ridiculous. So much for Ireland’s smoking bans. What I couldn’t understand was why the drinks were more expensive than everywhere else yet it was the worst pub in town.

Two guys were at each other from the moment we walked in, winding each other up. This was going to end badly. JJ and Beaver to step outside to sort out their differences. Nothing seemed to happen outside, but when they both came back in it had been agreed that an arm wrestle for €50 would settle it….best o three. JJ, the younger fella, lost to his own surprise but somewhat dirty tactics were employed.

We were only in there for 15-20 minutes yet I managed to experience the P&W at its finest. We moved on and what was to be a relatively early night was no longer. Nora’s brother Danny, who I’d met in the earlier day and couldn’t understand a word he was saying when he was sober, was there with a few drinks under his belt. I didn’t stand a chance of understanding him, yet he persistently continued to try and speak to me, eventually resorting to hand gestures.

JJ and Beaver followed us to the pub shortly after but separated themselves. Beaver said or did something inappropriate to some women and she showed him the door.

24th June, 2012