Pubs, Bars and Hotels
Establishments where alcohol could be bought and consumed were numerous in past centuries. In his evidence to the Devon Commission in 1834, Jonathan Binns reports:
“Although there are twenty-five whiskey shops in Market Hill, the population of which is only 1040, it is the general opinion that these pernicious establishments are decreasing.”
Rice’s Hotel
The oldest recorded pub/hotel in Poyntzpass is Rice’s Hotel on Church Street, which opened in 1798. Given what we know about the history of the village, it was probably one of the first tranche of properties to be built when A T Stewart decided to establish the village as separate from Acton. Its founder, Michael Rice, died on 25th May 1860, aged 92.
On 5th May 1918, then owned by Samuel Hudson, it was gutted by fire. He managed to rescue his wife and three children, but Maggie Harvey, a maid, was severely injured when she jumped from the top floor. The hotel was rebuilt, and still operates today, 225 years later, under its original name.
The Railway Hotel
In the 1820s, James Whigham ran a pub in what later became the Railway Hotel in the Far Pass, and in 1828 it was the site of the “Fatal Affray”. It passed to the Searight family and remained a pub/hotel until it was sold by Joseph Searight in about 1920.
Bennet’s Inn
Local businessman James Bennet ran Bennet’s Inn and there are many reports of local dinners and events being held there from the 1830s onwards.
The Central Hotel
The Central Hotel was on the corner of Railway Street and Church Street, in the premises now occupied by Poyntzpass Pharmacy.
Robert Allen (formerly of Allen Brothers[1]) bought the Central Hotel from John McShane for £800 in February 1909. The Newry Reported commented that “Mr Allen intends carrying on the hotel business and also general grocery, hardware etc.” However, Robert died in 1911, aged just 37, and in September 1913, the business was for sale again, due to “…Mrs. Margaret Annie Allen retiring from the business. These Premises consist of 2 Large Shops and Dwelling House with a good Yard and Stabling for over 20 horses.”
The premises were bought by Mrs Catherine Rafferty. In 1922 while being used as a temporary bank on fair day, it was raided (qv) by the IRA and over £1,000 was stolen. In 1925, a fundraising dance for the Poyntzpass District Nursing Society was held “in the Concert Room at the rear of Mrs Rafferty’s Central Hotel”. Concert Room sounds rather grand!
I was intrigued to discover the existence, in the 1870s, of an organisation with the wonderful name The Irish Association For Closing Public Houses on Sundays! Among the Poyntzpass members were William Boyd Bennet and local Presbyterian minister Alexander Strain.
The Local Temperance Movement
But the pubs were not without their opponents. The Irish temperance movement was inspired by Presbyterian minister John Edgar of Belfast, who poured all of his whiskey out of his window in 1829! The focus of their opposition to alcohol was strong spirits rather than wine or beer.
The first newspaper report of a local temperance meeting was that held by the Cremore Temperance Society in November 1837; eighteen of those present “signed the pledge” bringing the total number of members to 273, so clearly it was already well established.
At an early meeting of the Poyntzpass Temperance Society in April 1838, eighteen of those attending were newly convinced, and signed up. June 1840 saw the first public meeting of what had become the Fourtowns and Poyntzpass Temperance Society, when 150 sat down to tea in the market house and were then addressed by various preachers – and several theological students.
The meeting had been heavily ‘over-catered’ and so, the following morning, what remained was distributed for breakfast to almost 100 of the local poor. In December the same year, over 200 attended Drumbanagher and Mullaglass Temperance Society’s tea meeting in ‘Gerald’s-Pass’ [sic] schoolhouse.
A speaker at most of the temperance meetings in the district was Dr James Maxwell[2] MD, a resident of Poyntzpass, who often spoke on the deleterious effects of strong alcohol on the human body.
[1] The original partners in Allen Brothers were David, James, Robert and William Allen.
[2] Dr Maxwell may have lived in Poyntzpass, but he was never the village’s dispensary doctor. He may have provided private medical advice and treatment to the more well-heeled families in the district.