Irish Licensing World, July/August, 1973

A Hidden Pub with Hidden Delights
By Jim Fahy

Ireland is fortunate in having more that its fair share of picture postcard pubs ..old world taverns ... and village inns which radiate both charm and warmth. In an age of plate glass and chrome they stand out as a welcoming beacon to the discerning drinker, the tourist and the man who seeks refuge from the T.V. set. All have an endearing character which makes them instantly recognisable but few if any can rival the picturesque and now internationally famous "Moran's Oyster Cottage" in the tiny village of Kilcolgan on the shores of Galway Bay.

Set against a breath-taking backdrop of mountain and sea, this 200 year old thatched cottage cum pub overlooks the little village pier in Kilcolgan and is approached by a mile long road which snakes its way down to the sea from the main Galway to Shannon highway. It specialises in seafood dishes and to thousands of tourists and locals alike it is a "hidden pub - with hidden delights". It's just one of the many renowned pubs along what is now known as Galway's "Oysterland belt" but the visitor who overlooks a visit is passing up a really unique introduction to the seafood delights of the west coast.

Since the launching of Galway's now world renowned Oyster Festival there has been a tremendous upsurge of interest in oysters and other seafood along the fifteen mile stretch of coastline from Kinvara to Galway. Paddy Burke's pub in Clarenbridge is probably the most famous of the "oyster pubs" but Moran's Oyster Cottage in Kilcolgan can certainly challenge its supremacy and the range and variety of seafood which it provides is rapidly making it the haunt of filmstars, globe trotting business executives and jet setters.

A glance at its visitor book confirms this with names like John Huston, Peter O'Toole, Paul Newman and David Hemmings interspersed among ambassadors, senators, congressmen and clergymen, businessmen like John Mulcahy and Lord Boyd and hundreds of Australians, Indians, Germans, a handful of South Africans and even some Mexicans.

But from nearer home it attracts hundreds of seafood connoisseurs every week and its oysters, fresh and smoked salmon salads, crab dishes, trout and a unique mussel soup make a haunt for anybody wanting to have a quiet pint and a plateful of beautifully served seafood straight from the bay. From September to April its oysters and mussel soup and through the spring and summer months salmon and trout dishes are served daily. And with the Irish Oyster-opening champion 18-year-old Willie Moran behind the counter nobody has yet been able to eat them faster than he can open them - although one man, Galway auctioneer Tim Colleran, has set a house record by clearing 12 dozen and 4 oysters in one evening.

Any night you care to visit this charming thatched cottage with its five lounges - The Kitchen, The Cabin, The Parlour, The Back and The Snug - you will find it thronged with jovial company. Few of them will however be aware that but for the determination of the current owner Michael Moran the now famous Oyster Cottage would be a tumbled down wreck. Michael who is now in his '70's, thought seriously of closing the old pub in the 1950's when trade was bad and had plans for a modern lounge bar nearer the main road. Suddenly the launching of the Oyster Festival gave a new lease of life to Moran's and many other small pubs in the Kilcolgan, Clarenbridge area and within three or four years business was booming.

Morans is a family business dating back more than 200 years and in the 1800's it did a flourishing trade when Kilcolgan was a prosperous port. However, with the growth of road transport and the decline in shipping both the village and the public house trade almost disappeared. Today thanks to the tremendous upsurge of interest in seafood Moran's - still a family business run by Michael, his wife Kitty, their twin sons Willie and John, twin daughters Noreen and Cathy and a host of cousins including Dela, Pauleen, Patricia and Detta - is a must for anybody with an interest in sampling the crustaceous delights of Galway Bay.

Young Willie and his sister Noreen, whose rapid conversation would almost charm the oysters out of the bay, boast that their seafood dishes - maximum price 75p - cannot be rivalled and having sampled fresh and smoked salmon and crab salad I find it hard to disagree. The oysters weren't in season when we called but old hands taking a quiet Saturday pint in the Kitchen Lounge assured us that nobody in Ireland has more succulent oysters than Michael Moran.

During the month long dredging season more than 400,000 oysters are taken out of Galway Bay and hotels and bars specialising in them usually keep them in captivity until they are required. Every day from September to April Michael or his son Willie take out a fresh consignment and prepare them for their customers. Local fishermen supply fresh salmon, crab is delivered from Killala and you can have as much smoked salmon as you can eat. Very soon the Moran's hope to add lobster and prawns to their menu. Home made brown bread is another specialty of the house made oven fresh daily by the women in the Moran household.

Although the seafood trade in pubs and hotels is still only in the embryonic stage, village taverns like Moran's have become international landmarks and have quietly been earning thousands of pounds worth of valuable advertising in papers and magazines across the United States and in Britain. Columnists from Boston, New York and Chicago have visited Kilcolgan in the past few years and have been swept off their feet by the old world charm, the hospitality and above all by the magnificence of the seafood dishes served - at the right price. At two dollars a dish for a giant sized helping of fresh salmon, tomato, cucumber, lettuce, sliced egg, beetroot, parsley and some of Mrs. Moran's delicious oven fresh brown bread who wouldn't be tempted to take out the typewriter and recommend it to ones friends.

Although the Morans themselves dismiss it with a shrug, the one aggravating thing about their Oyster Cottage is the difficulty you are going to experience in finding it. Driving on the main Galway to Shannon highway you will have no difficulty in spotting the bold red and white sign at Kilcolgan which proclaims "You are now entering Oysterland"...but the sign pointing to Moran's is completely dwarfed by this. After two or three false starts, turning your car around and enquiring you will no doubt find the winding road which leads down to the pier and the Oyster Cottage. "It's one of the attractions of the place", old Michael told us. "We are a kind of hidden pub and people like it that way.

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