Have Ye No Homes to Go To? by Kevin Martin

Author:Kevin Martin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Collins Press

7

A ‘Third Place’:

The Social Significance of the Pub

‘Officially and politically Dublin and Belfast are Ireland’s capitals but the true centre of Irish life for centuries has been her pubs . . . the pub has served many functions: grocery store, funeral parlour, concert hall, restaurant, bar, political forum, congenial meeting place, courting corner and most of all a place for talk.’ – Sybil Taylor in The Life and Lore of Ireland Through Its Finest Pubs.

In his 1989 book The Great Good Place, Ray Oldenburgh, an American urban sociologist, argues ‘a third place’ is central to keeping a community alive. The first place is home; the second is work, but it is in the third, or neutral, space that social capital is accrued. It is here that civil society, democracy, civic engagement and a sense of place are enhanced. Oldenburgh contends the pub is a perfect third place: a neutral ground, a leveller, defined by conversation and accessibility, with a group of regular customers. Often it is plain and unpretentious, keeps a low profile and permits a level of playfulness – ‘a home away from home’. The unique potential of the public drinking establishment to become this third place of informal public life, he says, derives from a ‘fundamental synergism’ that comes into play whenever ‘alcoholic beverages and good company come together’. Oldenburgh has a chapter on the English pub that is equally applicable to Ireland. A good pub, he says, can be the epicentre of community interaction and conviviality, where you can meet other locals and friends, access the news, and discuss national and international issues of the day. Oldenburgh observed the decline of bars in America as the loss of a significant third place:

Few trends in American life are as pronounced as the rejection of the public drinking establishment. Despite the greater comfort offered, despite the flocked wallpaper, giant televisions . . . two for the price of one drinks, a lower drinking age, appeals to women who appeal to men, rock musicians . . . and a host of other lures, American drinking establishments are losing ground to the private consumption of alcoholic beverages . . . The tavern is a failing institution, perhaps even an endangered species . . . While avoiding few, if any, of the problems surrounding alcoholic beverages the nation is losing the socially solidifying rituals of public drinking within inclusive and democratic settings.

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