Roscommon pub still at the heart of the community after 150 years
Clancy's pub in Knockvicar has been serving the local community for 150 years. Pic:Noreen Gaffney
The continued support is reflected in the packed weekly schedule. Clancy’s hosts regular darts, cards and music nights, along with quiz nights, an Irish club, a monthly book club and events connected to St. Michael’s GAA. The local defibrillator group also use the pub as a venue, while Ann organises coffee mornings for Roscommon Hospice four times a year.
“We try and make it very inclusive for everybody,” Michael told the .
He said the strength of the pub lies in the relationship between the business and the people who support it.
“We support the community, but we’re very well supported here as well. It’s not just about having a drink. It’s about community,” said Michael.
When Ann and her husband Des took over the business 35 years ago, they would have had around 16 regulars every day. Michael said the rising cost of living has had a clear impact on both the pub trade and customers’ disposable income.
“From this time last year to now, there’s a big difference in the number of people who come in regularly,” he highlighted.
Michael believes more support is needed for rural communities and small country pubs if places like Clancy’s are to survive into the future.
“There could be an extra allowance or something that could be made available to keep something in the rural communities,” he felt.
“There seems to be a big concentration from a Government point of view on big businesses, and they really don’t care about the small business owner or entrepreneur that’s out there trying to make a living or support a family.”
The Clancy family has also faced personal hardship. In February 2022, Ann’s husband Des died after a long illness.
Throughout his illness, Ann continued to run the business full time while also caring for him.
“Mam was running the business full time and caring for Dad. He had been sick for about 20 years before that,” recalled Michael.
Two weeks before Des’s first anniversary Mass, Ann suffered a stroke, leaving the family facing another difficult period.
“It was the worst 18 months of my life between Dad passing and Mam getting sick,” said Michael.
Michael took four months off work unpaid and ran the pub during that time. The experience, he said, deepened his connection to the family business and to the pub trade.
While he has immense pride in the pub and its family history, he said there is uncertainty for any young person considering taking on a rural pub full time.
“That’s the one big question mark you’d have going forward for the likes of a business like this. Can I leave full-time employment and take this up, and will it be enough to support a family and be a viable source of income?” he said.
Through all of those challenges, Michael said his mother’s determination has shaped what Clancy’s is today.
“I’ve never been prouder of anybody. I could never look up to anybody as much as I look up to my mother. She’s just a powerhouse,” he said.
Ann is known locally for going the extra mile for customers, and the family say that personal touch is central to the pub’s character.
“We don’t get any caterers to do anything. Mam’s salad sandwiches are legendary,” said Michael.
The family also praised staff member Cara, who is in college, for her work in the bar, describing her as “just fantastic”. Michael added that the family, including brothers Barry, Diarmuid and sister Joanne, has been fortunate with staff over the years, while relatives have always been ready to chip in when needed.
For Ann, Clancy’s has been a place where generations of families have passed through the doors. The walls are filled with memorabilia, from sporting successes to reminders of the original layout of the pub, along with collages of people who once sat on a stool nursing a pint.
The pub’s reputation has even reached national radio. One regular, appearing on a quiz with The Two Johnnies, was asked where he went for a pint and replied: “Oh, I suppose we go to Mammy’s for a pint.”
Although the pub is in North Roscommon, Michael’s late father, Des, remained closely connected to Mayo.
“He spent most of his life here, still considering himself a Mayo man, even though it was only his mother who was from Mayo. Make of that what you will. Very controversial,” Michael smiled.
Michael has kept the sporting connection alive in another way as a proud player with St. Michael’s GAA Club.
As Clancy’s prepares to celebrate its 150th anniversary on the first weekend of October, Ann and Michael say the success of the pub belongs to the community as much as to the family behind the counter.
“You can have the best business in the world, but if you don’t have people to support it, you’re wasting your time.
“People choose to come here to host their events, to give us the business, not just from this parish or this area,” he noted.
For Michael, the pub has been part of his life for as long as he can remember.
“I used to come home from primary school. There would be eight or nine people at the counter. I’d always have a chat with them across the counter, and you wouldn’t be able to see me,” he quipped.
“Mam, she grew up behind that counter and just built it. Her ancestors brought it to a certain point. Mam has really made it into what it is today.”
*A party to mark the 150th anniversary of Clancy’s will take place on the first weekend of October.
