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Extract from Project Eyeball article on 31 May, 2001
Bar to basics
The pub's bar is lined with high stools. In Ireland, it's normal to stand or sit by the bar and chat with oter customers, or the barman, rather than look for a seat. Picture by CLARANCE CHAN.
By Ronald Rajan
31 May 2001 12:00AM
Yes, it's another Irish pub. But Shamus O'Donnell's, the three-week-old addition to the fraternity, is set to put the spirit back where it belongs. Our reporter ventures inside, to find the ''craic'' at the bottom of a pint of Guinness.
FOR a country that has next to nothing in common with the Emerald Isle of Eire - except they're both islands and bore the yoke of the British Empire - Singapore sure does have its share of Irish pubs.
Now there's a latest addition to the fraternity that includes Father Flanagan's, Muddy Murphy's and Molly Malone's.
Leaping leprechauns, you say. Another one?
Well, Patrick ''Pat'' Grennan, 36, might beg to differ.
Genial, portly and dressed in a shirt and tie like a ''proper Irish barman should'', he owns and manages Shamus O'Donnell's, a three-week-old establishment tucked away at Tras Street, off Tanjong Pagar Road.
Grennan, a resident here for the last 3 1/2 years, was previously with Father Flanagan's Irish Pub at Chijmes and Molly Malone's at Boat Quay.
Last November, he quit and decided to strike out on his own.
Grennan wanted to set up an Irish pub more reminiscent of the ''locals'' back home.
''Shamus O'Donnell's doesn't quite fit into many Singaporeans' concept of an Irish pub, which are usually very strongly branded and are filled with a lot of authentic bric-a-brac,'' he asserted.
Indeed, while peers of Shamus O'Donnell's may appropriate the trappings, but not the spirit, of the Irish pub, Grennan hopes to recreate the atmosphere of a Dublin city bar - where the pub owner himself serves the drinks and gets to know his patrons.
Unique to the pub is its ''snug'' - a regular feature of Irish bars back home but hitherto unknown here - at least in the Irish bars around.
It's a semi-private room where people may have their drinks in a more intimate setting.
Board games, such as Scrabble and Mastermind, are available free upon request.
Located at one end of the bar, patrons drinking within may order their rounds by hollering to the barman via a small window.
''This way, you don't have to excuse yourself from a conversation just to buy a round for your friends,'' added Grennan.
An unpretentious affair, the snug is decked out with comfortable mock leather seats.
All are welcome to enter, and Grennan insists it is not open to bookings.
Unlike the other Irish pubs here, Shamus O'Donnell's is not crammed with furniture.
Instead, its considerable wall space is lined with a series of old Guiness Stout ads.
''Guinness is at the core of an Irish pub,'' said Grennan, who sells the brew on draught at $12 a pint ($10 during happy hours).
He's even concocted a ''house special'' (at the same price), which blends the Guinness with ruby port, thereby sweetening the drink.
While there are sturdy wooden stools and tables, the main focus here is on the long bar area - a layout more agreeable to Westerners. Grennan explained: ''For local customers, it's important to find a seat. But in the West, it's quite normal practice to buy your drink and stand by the bar, where you might strike up an acquaintance and have a chat.''
You needn't drink on an empty stomach either. The jolly Irishman serves up tasty toasted sandwiches ($5), home-made soup ($5), and a pie-and-pint special at $15 between noon and 8pm daily.
Yet, one nagging query remained.
If he's Pat Grennan, then who in the world is Shamus O' Donnell? ''I'd love to give you a fancy tale about his identity, but the truth is that it was a name of a pub I used to run in Portsmouth, Britain. They used to call it Sods for short.'' Right, grand job!
Shamus O'Donnell's Irish Pub is at 54 Tras Street. Operating hours are: Mondays to Fridays, noon to midnight (happy hours from noon to 8pm); Saturdays, 5pm to midnight at happy hour prices; on Sundays, officially closed but open for private bookings of 40 persons or more.
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