Hotel & Catering Review, June 2001

Seafood by the Weir by Frank Corr

Blame it on the trucks - the diesel lorries which brought turf from the bogs of Connemara to Galway, Oranmore and Clarinbridge.

Before they came on the scene in the thirties, Kilcolgan was a thriving little port with 13 houses and three busy pubs. A flotilla of Galway Hookers ('Puchans') sailed into the mouth of the River Dunkellin, loaded with peat and kelp which was unloaded by hand into horse-drawn carts which came from miles around.

It was thirsty work, flinging the sods from boat to cart and as a result the three pubs flourished. With the decline of shipping came the decline of the pubs, even though Kilcolgan boasted 700 acres of natural oyster beds and one of the best salmon rivers in Galway.

Eventually two of the pubs just closed - in those days licenses did not have any real value - but Morans remained in business, supplementing a meagre bar trade with farming, oyster harvesting and netting salmon. 'We built the bridge across the river which is known as The Weir and so we became Morans of the Weir', says Willie Moran who runs the business today with his wife Sheila.

The sixth generation of Morans to operate the family pub, Willie remembers growing up in the two-bedroom house which was their pub and their home. 'This snug was a bedroom, and so was the snug behind this. Out there was our living room which was also the bar and on the far side was our parlour. Upstairs was the loft where the children slept.'

He remembers when the parlour also became part of the bar. 'We took away the stairs to the loft and me and my brothers got to our bedroom by climbing up an outside ladder. We had to be very quiet too because there would be people in the bar.'

Morans was something of a local curiosity until 1967, when Fate, in the person of Al Byrne of Guinness, intervened. 'He was brought down here by Paddy Bourke, whose famous pub is up in the village of Clarinbridge. They came down for a quiet pint, away from it all, and they had a dozen oysters and some of my mother's brown bread. Al was very taken by the place and thought it would be an ideal location for the annual Guinness party which was held during the Galway Oyster Festival. My parents were shocked by the idea of catering for a large party of VIPs. At that time the stock in our bar was made up of bottles of Guinness, a bottle of Sandeman Port, some Powers whiskey and a few flagons of Cidona. We had no draught.'

None of this mattered to Al Byrne, who arranged for draught Guinness to be installed and asked only for large quantities of Kilcolgan oysters and copious loaves of brown bread. In due course the party took place, in glorious weather. The great and the good of Guinness were there as were journalists Terry O'Sullivan and Seamus Kelly. They raved about the place in their newspaper columns and overnight Morans of the Weir was famous.

'At that time my parents had more or less decided to knock the pub and move the license to a new building on the main road,' Willie recalls. 'But with all the publicity we thought that it was worth giving a try to serving a few oysters, a few prawns and a bit of smoked salmon, and that is what we have been doing since.'

Those oysters and seafood were always of the highest quality, as was Kitty Moran's brown bread, and they were more than enough to attract in-the-know customers down the narrow road from Clarinbridge to what was now known as 'Moran' Oyster Cottage.'

And they got more than Guinness and seafood. Kitty Moran's hospitality was exceptional, even by Galway standards as indeed was her work rate. She turned out pan after pan of brown bread every day and always had a warm welcome for every customer. As indeed had her husband Michael, albeit in a different style.

Both are now retired from the business, although Kitty, at 83, still bakes the occasional batch of brown bread for the family - and for honoured guests, among which we were very happy to be numbered. 'My father, who is now 94, was a most ethical publican and would not have people on the premises outside of opening hours,' says Willie. He recalls one occasion when film director John Huston and a group of friends were ushered outside at 2pm on a Sunday afternoon and then offered hospitality in the family home. 'As an 11 year old, I was helping serve them some lunch and John Huston introduced me to his friends, one of which was a young Paul Newman.' 'He had a great welcome for everyone and when the Crown Prince and Princess of Japan (now the Emperor and Empress) came, he ignored all protocol and shook their hands warmly.'

It was not long until Willie became involved in the business at the age of 16, after his brother Thomas died at a young age. 'I had no choice but to leave school and to get stuck in. During the seventies it was impossible to get staff in the countryside - for very different reasons than now. Most young people had left.' He worked the bar day and night, starting at 10am and not finishing until 1am, seven nights a week. Only when there was a local marquee could he get out for a bit of socialising after he had finished in the pub. It was a meagre social life - but Willie made the most of it, meeting his wife Sheila at one such marquee dance. 'I asked what was his night off - and he just laughed,' she remembers.

But Willie and his parents were creating something special at Moran's Oyster Cottage. 'I had a simple approach which was based on getting the best possible seafood - wild smoked salmon, wild oysters, wild mussels and prawns and serving them in a simple manner. Our menu today is almost the same as it was 20 years ago, apart from changes in the way we serve the dishes. Since we put in a new kitchen, we have added lobster which I always wanted to serve.'

From the beginning Morans could harvest the very best of oysters from their own beds. When new EU regulations came into force, however, all oysters had to be purified and Willie decided to sell his beds to a local oyster specialist who had the scale of harvesting to justify investment in a purification system. The lobsters are also local, but today Moran's smoked salmon, crab meat and prawns come from Ted Browne in Dingle, whom Willie reckons to be the best supplier of seafood in the country. 'We have been working together for 20 years and he sends me seafood that tastes as if it has just come out of the water.'

Morans has grown steadily over the years, while always retaining its cottage ambiance. 'We started by building on toilets in 1967 because the Licensing Laws demanded them. Next we built a house to live in and moved out of the pub. The house was built when Al Byrne came. Five years later we added a second storey to the pub and we extended again five years after that.'

Their most recent and most dramatic development, however, took place in 1999 when they remodelled the entire premises, creating a large bar/restaurant behind the original cottage, with a first-floor meeting room and ancillary facilities. Designed by Angela Murphy with a large personal input from Willie Moran, the new-look Oyster Cottage retains its thatched roof and cottage frontage. The former bedrooms and parlour have become snugs catering for six to 12 people while the main bar/restaurant has a bright, modern appearance while retaining its traditional atmosphere. A large modern catering kitchen offers staff the space and equipment needed for a busy 130-seater restaurant which operates through opening hours, from early morning to after midnight in summer.

Morans remains a locals business, but now attracts customers from far and wide, many of whom arrive clutching food and travel guides. Food accounts for around 70 percent of turnover, but Willie is careful to preserve the pub feel of the Oyster Cottage.

Initially Morans attracted 'foodies' but now attracts 'everyone'.

In the early years the pub was a haunt for barristers over from Galway for oysters and wine. In those days Morans sold oysters to take away, which were cheaper that those opened on the premises. Willie recalls that one prominent barrister argued that he should pay the lower price. Patting a copious stomach, he proclaimed: 'My dear man, I am after all taking them away'.

A lifetime of oyster opening has made Willie Moran an expert. He is former World Champion and is a founder committee member of the Clarinbridge Oyster Festival. A regular guest on TV travel programmes and featured in media around the world, Willie enjoys family life and a game of golf. Outgoing and talkative, he numbers Jack Charlton and Mick McCarthy among his close personal friends, but says that he rarely talks to them about football.

Morans has an all-year staff of around 14, but this can swell to close on 40 during peak periods. Most staff are local and they have learned how to handle, cook, present and serve the seafood menu through practical experience. Some, however, now also hone their skills at college and gain formal qualifications. Willie strongly believes that Moran's is only as good as its staff and he prides himself in the fact that many of his key people, including assistant managers Vincent Graham (with 22 years service) and Mark (17 years), have been with him since they began working. 'Staff should have reasonable hours and have a life outside of their work,' he says. He looks back on his round-the-clock working and says that he now appreciates the time he can spend with Sheila and their five children. 'I can do it because I have a great team with me,' he says.

Morans of the Weir have had a profound influence on Kilcolgan over the years. They developed its oyster beds, fished salmon from its river, and built a seafood pub and restaurant business of great fame.

Where the puchans once tied up by the slipway, helicopters now whiz over-head as their pilots land bankers and industrialists at a pub which once derived its business from the haulers of peat and kelp.

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