Ach go háirithe

There’s been a lot of aul talk lately about the highest pub in Ireland, is it ‘Barr an Chuma/The Top of Coom’ or ‘Johnnie Fox’s’ or is it that God forbidden place in county Wicklow? Well the definitive answer while not yet established, is on the way and as a prelude to that I decided to write a review on my Local, the highest pub in Ireland elect, ‘Barr an Chuma/The Top of Coom’.

‘Barr an Chuma/The Top of Coom’ is situated on the wrong side of the Cork Kerry border and has long been a haunt of musicians, singers, drinkers, hill walkers, spoofers, poets, sheep farmers, and bikers to name but a few. In the past it boasted a steady tourist trade from all over Ireland and abroad, with many famous visitors staying upstairs in the B&B of Creedons’ Top of Coom including Martin Sheen’s second cousin, the guy who played Arthur Daly on Minder and Daniel Day Lewis’s mother in law. While the foreign tourist trade may not be as brisk as in previous years local trade along with tourists trade from the rest of the country is as strong as ever.

The Top of Coom is a family run pub and is situated on a working farm, so don’t be surprised if you have to press a bell for attention (during the day anyway) and be patient for a moment or two before getting the full attention of the good people of the house as cows may need to be brought in or sheep may need rounding up.

The establishment itself contains a bar, a lounge and a pool room. You will find NO television, wide-screen or otherwise, in the Top of Coom. The radio only gets switched on if the Kerry footballers are playing and on occasion if Cork are playing depending on who’s in the bar, and even then the reception is shocking (on the radio), due to the altitude no doubt.

Murphy’s stout lorry snakes its way up to the Top of Coom

The bar stocks all the usual beverages for this part of the country but supplies of Murphy’s have been known to run low on occasion due to high levels of consumption and the sporadic nature of keg deliveries. Known to the locals as ‘El Camino de la Muerte’ or Cúm na nÉag, the approach road from the Cork side up to the Top of Coom is treacherous at best. Extreme drop-offs, loose rocks and a poor road surface makes every trip to the Top of Coom an adventure, but the reward at the summit is well worth the risk. It’s also advisable not to spend too much time outside your vehicle or outside the pub once in county Kerry itself. Many of the native animals (of both biped and quadruped variety) find outsiders amusing and stand in bewilderment at visitors dismounting their various forms of transport before entering this unique and historic public house.

I could go into the usual pub review spiel about the price of the pint (cheap as it happens) and the toiled facilities etc, but this is much more than a pub, it’s an institution. An institution that if you’re lucky enough to be attending on the right night you will never forget. It oozes character, and that’s just the clientele.

Big nights in the Top include early August (Kilgarvan Show), late July (Sheep Shearing Competition), Christmas and New Year.

PubSpy Rating 13 thumbs up out of 13

Location

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 1st, 2006 at 3:31 pm and is filed under Ach go háirithe, Cúrsaí Reatha / Topical. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.