Murtagh’s in Carrick-on-Shannon is the place to be for a mighty night out

THE Connaught senior football championship commences this weekend but it’s fair to say everybody we encountered in Murtagh’s pub in Carrick- on-Shannon didn’t care.

It was the Young Commando’s idea to visit Carrick-on- Shannon and we doubt he even knew Leitrim were in action either.

“Maybe the pubs will be hopping so” one Commando said.

“The pubs will be hopping alright but Carrick-on-Shannon is more of a hurling area than football, most people won’t care and they definitely won’t be travelling to London for it,” the Old Commando stated.

We’re not sure it’s possible to have a bad time here. It’s always so lively and exciting, but this was our first visit in a couple of years and we were interested to see if trade had been affected since the Covid-19 pandemic.

We’re thrilled to confirm it most certainly hasn’t! Well it definitely hasn’t affected trade in Murtagh’s pub, which is where we found ourselves for the night.

The atmosphere was incredible and our Female Commando, who was out for the first time since 2019, was blown away by the party atmosphere.

There were only a handful of empty tables left when we arrived in this spacious modern style boozer, and it was only 6.30pm. The place was thronged with young folk in their 20s and 30s and there was no question about it they were all enjoying themselves.

“Is it 6.30pm or 11.30pm” the Young Commando joked as we stood at our high table waiting for our round of drinks.

“Everyone looks well on as it is” he added.

Stag and hen parties appeared to make up the bulk of the clientele and luckily enough they serve food here as we’re sure plenty of the customers were in need of soakage.

There was certainly no trace of nerves from any of the youthful clientele about Covid and perhaps it’s becoming a distant memory for many.

What did strike us was just how immaculately clean this pub was, even with the huge crowd of people that were here.

There were four bar staff on duty and they were run off their feet for duration of our stay.

We didn’t expect stout to be a popular ‘stag’ drink but the Old Commando was delighted to see a line of them along the counter as he placed our order.

Costing €4.90, which is more than we’d like to pay, the pints of Guinness kept a thick creamy head all the way to the bottom of the glass, just the way we like it.

The brown leather barstools were very comfortable and the leather bench seating was in excellent condition.

There are plenty of drinks available on draught, such as Corona, San Miguel, Rockshore and Coors and we counted at least four large screen TVs.

However, it is safe to say nobody was paying the slightest bit of attention to them.

The customers in Murtagh’s didn’t come to watch the telly, they came to party.

We sent the Young Commando to inspect the toilets and he reported back to us that they were clean, had four urinals, one cubicle and piping hot water.

As we were due to depart the Young Commando had his phone in his hand texting his friends to see if they’d be interested in a night out in

Carrick-on-Shannon any time soon while simultaneously asking us if we could stay for just one more round.

Safe to say he enjoyed Murtagh’s pub, safe to say we all did. It’s a great spot and worth checking out if you’re in the area.

Rating: Four pints out of Five

One for the road

P Flynn - Carrick-on-Shannon

Surprisingly there were no stags or hens in this pub when we called but it was still almost full to capacity.

We got the sense that there were a lotmore ‘regulars’ or ‘locals’ drinking at the bar than some of the other pubs in town.

There was a barman and barmaid on duty and they were kept on their toes throughout our stay. Tuborg, Coors, Rockshore lager and cider are all available on draught, but they also serve food in this pub and plenty of folks were dining.

We counted at least three TVs with live football being shown and we noticed they also have live music here four nights of the week. The red leather barstools were in good condition and the timber flooring was clean too.

The toilets checked out fine.

Rating: Three pints out of Five