Norrie Henchys

er the hill, drinking a proto-porter from the cauldron of the Daghdha late into the night. A band of those who were too impaired to carry on stayed behind with the cauldron to recuperate and recover in the favourable landscape with the aid of their delicious and invigorating potion. So happy were those days that the fairest of them never left, choosing to settle down in Sraheen with the cauldron to refresh passers by so that they might enjoy the same respite his comrades did in their hour of need. This was not the last link between Henchy’s and the Fir Bolg, however. Adhair, brother of Aonghus - the famous architect of Dún Aonghusa on Inis Mór, was buried beneath Magh Adhair in nearby Toonagh. This sacred ground came to be the inauguration site of the Dál gCais kings of Thomond, including one Brian Ború. With its links back to the heroes of ancient Ireland and the mystical cauldron, by now it had become custom for the newly crowned kings of the region to retire to Henchy’s for a skip of pints to bring good fortune to their reign and fortify themselves for the trials ahead. Brian frequently travelled over from Kincora in the days before drink driving legislation however, and is believed to have convened there with his lieutenants before the fateful Battle of Clontarf in 1014. To this day, Henchy’s has remained a popular pit stop on the main road to and from east Clare, although the new motorway has very much diminished the through traffic to Dublin. Astute patrons of the bar will have noticed a photograph of Vinegar Hill above Enniscorthy at the end of the bar counter, a sad reminder of a fateful day in the lives of two Henchys’ less renowned, but no less distinguished locals in the 18th century. Jubilant after a big win playing combs on a Saturday night, the Fireball MacNamara began to celebrate by lashing out some rebel songs in the bar. An excellent singer, his boisterous style riled up the crowd, so much so that one Denis O’Duffy and a load of the lads decided on the spot to head over to Wexford and join the United Irishmen, the Fireball in their midst. MacNamara was a famed swordsman and a crack shot with his twin pistols, which he nicknamed ‘Bás gan Sagart’. He had reputedly eaten his first mouthful as a baby from the point of a sword, and by the end of his life had survived 57 duels. The battle of Vinegar Hill was not his day, however. With his hand injured from slapping the cards against the table too hard in his fervour a few nights previous, the Fireball was off form and received a thigh wound that left him lame for the rest of his life. Both MacNamara and O’Duffy survived, however, unlike so many of their comrades, and went on to further adventures in England and France respectively, unfortunately never to return to their beloved Henchy’s. Henchy’s has had a continuing connection with the Irish freedom struggle down through the centuries. Three regulars of the pub, Joseph Considine, Patrick Hennessy and Con McMahon, no doubt partially inspired by the exploits of the previous patrons of their favourite bar, all fought in the Tan War with the Clooney company of the mid-Clare brigade of the IRA and were active throughout the conflict. After the treaty, all three fought on the republican side in the Civil War, which sadly led to their untimely deaths. Considine was killed in action in the Four Courts, the first casualty of the Civil War, and Hennessy and McMahon were executed in Limerick Jail, cruelly robbing Ireland of three great patriots, and Henchy’s of three loyal customers. Indeed, the revolutionary period in the early 20th century was the setting for the arrival of arguably Henchy’s most famous ever customer. Ernest Hemingway had enlisted in the Italian front in the First World War as an ambulance driver, where he received serious shrapnel wounds to the leg in the course of his duties. Unfit for further service, he started to make his way back to America by a circuitous route, hoping to make short journeys over land and resting along the way before facing into the long sea voyage home. A budding journalist with a keen nose for a story, no doubt Hemingway soon heard of the legend of Norrie Henchy’s on his arrival in Ireland if not before, and promptly set off on the Great Southern and Western Railway to see the place for himself. What was originally probably only intended as a quick day trip to conduct an interview or two over a pint soon turned into multiple interviews, songs and stories over very many pints and eventually ended up as an almost year-long stay. Hemingway is thought to have found lodgings across the road from the pub, easily supporting himself with occasional wire transfers from America for freelance feature stories on Irish life. The majority of these stories were penned by the fireside in Henchy’s, where Ernest quickly became one of the top customers. The main thrust of his work, however, was his book on the Tan War, 'For What the Knell Peals', based on a young American volunteer come from a land beyond the wave to join in Ireland’s war of national liberation. Hemingway had secured a publisher in New York for what was to be his breakthrough novel, with keen interest among the Irish diaspora there. However, the censors of the Public Information Office had different ideas and the first draft was intercepted before ever it left Irish shores, although it is believed Hemingway repurposed the manuscript for a later book on the Spanish Civil War. Shortly after, the young American was tipped off that the British authorities had become none too pleased at his continuing presence in the locality and he promptly cleared off on the next sailing from Queenstown, clearing his tab and promising to return as soon as the Irish Republic prevailed. By this time he had fully recovered from his grave injuries and went on to enjoy a successful literary career, finding the same solace and rejuvenation during his stay as those first guests found some 3,800 years previous that still await visitors to this day.