Imagine the size of a small village, how many people would you think that to be? 5000? Maybe even 2500. Imagine a village with under 500 people, and in that town a village of just around 100 people. That is the town of Cloughjordan, smack in the middle of the Irish countryside you have this scenic village where everybody knows everyone and visitors are far and few inbetween. When we first arrived in this town we were skeptical to be sure “what even is there to do in a place this small?” wondered just about everyone, “how do people even live here?” I thought to myself. But over the course of the next few days I began to see, people here live very fulfilled. Of course the fact that it was our first day in Ireland, a few of my friends and I decided to find a local establishment to quench our extreme thirst, as well as to get a lay of the (very small) land.
We walked into the pub and were greeted by a very nice man who I later learned went by the nickname of “Bomber”. Our party of stereotypical Americans sat down and we began to talk with bomber, at first about where we came from, why we were here, the usual. But then we asked him about life in Cloughjordan, he said it was “slow, not a lot of excitement, but it’s a nice community, everyone in here is friendly, I can’t complain.” When asked about running his pub, bomber said that “because we only really have locals that come here, business isn’t “booming” I own the pub so I just have to pay for upkeep, but even so it’s next to no profit. I could close the place down and by next week I would be making more money than I ever did thanks to government benefits, but if you want the real reason why I keep it open it’s because I love everyone in this town far too much, it’s a way for us all to come together, and that is what makes it all worthwhile for me.” This seems to be the case for many of the fine Irish people, they care more about the wellbeing of their community than just for themselves, something that is not normally the case back in the United States, the sense of community and unity in Ireland seems to be prevalent no matter where you go, and I find that to be absolutely amazing.
PS.
If you ever find yourself in Cloughjordan, make sure to give Bomber a visit, he said one of his favorite things about his pub is being able to hear stories from all around the world.