A man from County Kerry is on a mission to visit every single Irish pub in the world and so far he has been to 97 pubs in 47 countries including Poland, Kazakhstan and Indonesia
A man is on a mission to visit every Irish pub in the world.
Colm Dalton, from County Kerry, won’t quit until he visits every Irish pub in the world, and so far he has made it to 97 pubs in 47 countries, according to CNN. The Irishman is documenting his travels via his blog, Publican Enemy, and he has visited places such as Jakarta, Krakow and the Azores.
On a recent visit to The Woodbine pub in Finsbury Park, a North London neighbourhood with a strong Irish history, he told CNN Travel: “I did one trip, and I just loved it.”
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That first trip, seven years ago to Bilbao, in Spain, inspired his consequent trips. “I just said, ‘This is great. I’ll continue it, and I’ll just try to go a different place every time,'” he added. “I love to see how someone has interpreted the Irish pub, and (if it’s) a faithful interpretation.”
The London-based university lecturer grew up in Fenit, a small village with “one shop and five pubs”. Colm explained how it is a beautiful part of Ireland, but that he always wanted to travel.
On his adventures, he has enjoyed many different Irish pubs but emphasised that the best are independent and feel like someone’s home. He believes that music is vital for a good atmosphere.
Colm now goes on many of his pub-seeking trips with his partner, but at the beginning he explored different destinations on his own. In Europe, he found that “the Irish pub is seen as the alternative pub”, where students appear to live out their “James Joyce, the Pogues dream”.
In southern Spain, he found that many people just enjoyed a pint in the sunshine. In other destinations, such as Kazakhstan and Indonesia, Irish pubs are “a little bit high status” and they are a popular choice for business people, due to their imported beers.
“To be an up-and-coming modern city, you have to have an Irish pub,” Colm explained. “It’s very international, it’s very touristy, where, like, all the expats go.”
For example, in Malmö, Sweden, he visited a pub that he found more ‘wild’, with guests dancing on tables, which contrasted with what he was expecting. Speaking with one local, he was told that they loved it because Irish pubs gave them an excuse to go mad.
Looking to the future, Colm hopes to head to the Faroe Islands. He also wants to visit O’Kelly’s Bar in Guantanamo Bay, although he admits it might be tricky for him to gain access. His list of next stops goes on, including Bubbles O’Learys in Kampala, Uganda, the southernmost Irish pub in the world called The Dublin, in Tierra del Fuego, and the highest Irish pubs in the world — Paddy’s Irish Pub in Cusco, Peru, and Namche Bazaar in the foothills of the Himalayas.
The Irish Pubs Global Federation estimates that there are at least 6,500 Irish pubs in the world, so Colm does confess that he might not achieve his goal of visiting every single one, but that he will enjoy attempting to.