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WHEN MICHAEL CONWAY spied a run-down old building just off Kilkenny main street, he saw the opportunity for a neat fixer upper.
Conway had just become the consultant cardiologist for the Carlow-Kilkenny area, and the property seemed like the perfect spot for a studio of some kind to pursue his hobbies. Little did he know what he’d let himself in for.
“It turns out that what I had bought, without standing in it or getting it surveyed, was a national monument,” he says. “I now had a nightmare on my hands. I’d imagined it might take two or three years between myself and direct labour to fix the old wreck. Not a chance. It took ten years to rescue.”
“The old wreck” as it turned out was one of Ireland’s oldest townhouses. Initially built in the late 16th century, the tavern entertained some of the most powerful people in the country including Henry Grattan and the future Duke of Wellington. It even has links to the 1916 rising – Thomas McDonagh lived here.
Upon discovering this, Conway decided to honor the building’s history by restoring it as a bar. But progress wouldn’t be quick or cheap. Since the tavern was a monument, Conway had to step back and let historical experts take the lead. In the meantime, exhaustive research was done for conservation plans. He estimates that over the course of ten years, he invested more than a million US dollars in the project
By the time the restoration was completed, Conway was anxious to get the tavern on its feet and making money. Of course if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans. “I opened it on the August 7 2009, more or less the day the recession started. You couldn’t make it up!” he laughs.
The opening years saw The Hole in the Wall fight tooth and nail for survival. Early on, Conway noted the excellent acoustics in the pub, and started to book gigs with some of Ireland’s premier musicians. Having the likes of Mary Coughlan perform an intimate set put some wind in the pub’s sails, but when the recession hit hard, he found himself unable to draw bigger acts.
Instead Conway decided to develop local talent. “The Hole in the Wall gives a chance to people and it changes a lot. We’re basically punk metallers at the minute,” he says. “There’s no restrictions. We’ve been doing an open mic on Saturday nights and we’ve had a singer, Sheryl, who would be a professional opera singer in Venice. She blows the place away!”
Though the restoration cost a lot of time and money, the goal was to maintain as much of the original building as possible – the thick stone walls have been relatively untouched, and Conway reckons some of the timber has been there since the tavern’s heyday. The result is a small, cosy pub that eschews modern invasions like wifi and television. In The Hole in the Wall, conversation is king.
“It’s evolved into a place where people meet, discuss, hear stories told by people and sing,” he says. “When you think about it, it’s a refuge from the madding crowd kind of place. It’s tapping into a natural phenomenon in Ireland which is talk. We like to chat forever.”
Storytelling is a huge part of The Hole in the Wall. Conway describes the barman as a conduit through which connections are made and experiences are shared. The pub also hosts all kinds of theatre and storytelling nights, covering tales that range from the Titanic to the life of French singer Edith Piaf.
The stories even seep into the pub’s surroundings. “It’s constantly changing. The first two months of the year I dedicate to Ernest Shackleton and Tom Crean,” Conway explains. “So we turn the tavern into a kind of hut with pieces from a hundred years ago. When people come in, they wonder what it is, and then you’re able to tell the story.”
It’s been a long journey for Conway, who acknowledges the absurdity of a cardiologist running a pub. But for him, The Hole in the Wall isn’t the kind of spot to get legless in on a Saturday night. Instead it’s a place where you make connections with your neighbours and share ideas, stories and songs.
“I never wanted to open a bar,” he admits. “And as a venue, we don’t encourage excessive drinking. I’ve actually stopped people who are overdoing it because I don’t want to see them as a patient. I restored it as a bar because that’s its history. We’re rejuvenating its energy as a place to discuss and have a good time.”
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Welcome to the 21st century!!! PASSPORT OFFICE
@Ronan Mc Namara: don’t be stupid the passport office has been providing an amazing online service for years. One of the best in the world in fact. 100% virtual applications process. They still have to be printed though and this is a more manual service which likely impacted.
@Ronan Mc Namara: learn to read honey…this article is about online applications only…
@Paul Quirke: What school did you go too?
Applications received from it are not being processed in real time but rather set aside in a queue until whenever the office reopens.
Blind leading the blind in that office.
Sure it’s a world class system…Jesus wept!!
@Ronan Mc Namara:
I renewed my passport online and I got it in 5 days while Brexit was happening. Excellent Service.
@Just Some Guy: Fair enough……but not for the last few months. Excellent Service…………….Jesus wept!
At present, no new applications for new or renewed passports are being taken either over the phone or by mail, as the coronavirus crisis has affected production of the documents themselves.
@Ronan Mc Namara: why?
The passport online system does not entail customer contact, processing can quite easily be organised with safe distancing, & actual printing, binding, & posting similarly, on a shift basis to mert demand.
Its a good revenue earner as well, so why would staff be redeployed, when lits of other public service personnel remain disengaged entirely, on full pay.
The senior heads have serious questions to answer, both in the civil srrvice & local authorities, as to why so many units closed up.
If they are not rated as essential services, then why re open them again?
@William Kelly: I agree William beggars belief….. they could not wait to closed the doors….very shoddy service.
While the Passport Office’s online renewal system is still live, applications received from it are not being processed in real time but rather set aside in a queue until whenever the office reopens.
@Ronan Mc Namara: not correct, the blank passport booklet are done in bulk order from the secure printing company contracted by the government and are stockpiled with emergency reserves. Even in the the UK although they recently changed to blue passports, red passports are still being issued as they are trying to get rid of them to make sure they have sufficiently stockpiled the new blue ones.
@Ronan Mc Namara: you also have to remember Ireland have Passport Cards, so if in the unlikely situation passport books where in fact short supply, it would be easy enough to issue the cards standalone to those applicants who only plan to travel to another EU country or just wanting a passport for the purpose of proving their ID, reserving the booklets for those who need to travel outside of the EU.
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