Reopening of Kerry pub – ‘We did Dad proud it was his dying wish’

When David O’Driscoll passed away just weeks ago he did so in the knowledge his dying wish was being fulfilled and that Boston’s Bar – the cherished family pub – would finally soon reopen.

In fact that very day, May 12, the community in Valentia pulled together to open the bar for a few hours to show David that his dream had been realised.

Now just over six weeks later the official opening of Boston’s Bar, which is now being run by David’s daughter Siobhan O’Sullivan, took place in a proud and deeply poignant moment for the whole family.

The popular pub in Valentia has a long history on the island but had in fact originated with the O’Driscoll family. Siobhan’s granduncle Thady O’Driscoll founded the pub in 1962; prior to that it had been a private dwelling. The pub was founded to provide a place for the Valentia life-boat crews to socialise in, as the Royal Hotel was the then hang-out for the gentry.

The pub was known as Taylor Casey’s and then Thady Driscoll’s Bar. When Thady passed away in the early ‘70s, the pub was sold to a man called Robin Holder, before it was passed onto Mick Sugrue and, later, Nealie Lynch who returned from Boston in America in the ‘80s.

He became known locally as Boston and hence the bar took the name that would stick with the establishment into the present.

Local Michael O’Connell bought the bar in the early ‘90s and in 2019 David fulfilled his wish and brought it back into the family name.

David worked tirelessly over a long period of time with the help of his daughter Siobhan and local builder Brendan Mangan to restore it to its former glory. Unfortunately the opening was to be in 2020 but Covid halted those plans and then David got sick with cancer which claimed his life on May 12 this year.

But his dream and memory lived on at the official opening of the pub last weekend - a job undertaken by Donal O’Donoghue a close personal friend of the family and who told those gathered on the night how this was David’s dream.

Siobhan, Martin and the O’ Sullivan family have now taken over the running of Boston’s Bar, following in the footsteps of their forebears who ran successful business in Knightstown.

Generations of O’Driscoll and O’Sullivan families had shops, pubs, butchers and bakeries in the village. They were as much part of Knightstown as the Clock Tower and their heritage is steeped in the village and will be further cemented in their new pub.

Siobhan said she is looking forward to the challenge ahead. She too is proud that the pub is back in the family and more importantly that her Dad’s dream has come true. “We are more than positive, our dad was looking down from above with pride and a smile,” she said.

Local businesses have been instrumental in giving the O’ Sullivan family help and advice and Siobhan said they are so grateful for their support in getting the pub open.

“Between the Royal Hotel, Ring Lyne Valentia, The Moorings and Fisherman’s in Portmagee, they have been instrumental in helping in anyway they could.”

She also thanked local man Donie O’Sullivan who has been by their side assisting in every way he can, from helping with electrical, plumbing and carpentry jobs to stocking the bar and to her friend Mary Clancy who spent the weekend working behind the counter.

Joining Siobhan on the night for the official opening were friends and family and the wider community in Valentia, along with the local producers of drinks including Skellig Six18 Gin, Valentia Vermouth and craft beers from McGill’s brewery – all of which went down a treat.

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