Back in Wexford for a few days, the first of which we went for a stroll along the narrow main street in the town. In the Bullring stands the Pike Man as a memorial to the failed 1798 rebellion of the United Irishmen, in Wexford there was some success at the time but in the end the whole rebellion was crushed. This statue was erected in 1905, in 1998 they redecorated the place, they weren’t finished in time, as one of the lads said at the time, “it’s not as if they didn’t know it was coming 200 years after the event should have been enough time” but hey it’s Ireland. These days the Bullring has a steady trade of alcoholics and is usually decorated with empty Dutch Gold cans until they get cleaned up. The punters in the Cape bar amuse themselves by superglueing a €2 coin on the footpath and watch passers by try and pick it up, eventually some one smart comes with a sharp instrument and removes it. But it is funny to watch some poor unfortunate bend down and try to pick up a coin that won’t come up, then the loud shouts from the bar and banging on the window, you’ve been framed and candid camera have nothing on this crack! The pub features in Lenny Henry’s documentary “Lenny’s Britain”, wrong country Lenny.
A real live pike from 1798, the Bullring was used as an armaments factory for the rebels and this pike head lives in the vicinity still. I had the thing in my hand, a fair weapon but fairly useless against cannons and muskets. The Swiss Guard that swan around the Vatican have something similar, hopefully they have a plain clothes unit with more modern weaponry.
The pints of Guinness (€3.70)were good in the Cape bar too, if you feel poorly you’re in the right place, the Undertaker can come and measure you up for a coffin while you slake your thirst. Vertical Bones has a better discussion on Guinness than I can manage also a trek around pubs with prices in his previous posts.
In the Cape bar the problems of the day were being discussed in lively tone, the M50 roundabout residents were being debated, I reckon the boys in the pub could solve the whole problem with a few pints of stout and a large group of men with hurley sticks, not the most politically correct solution maybe, but politically correct is a bit of an oxymoron anyway. Fortunately for the M50 roundabout residents the drinkers don’t have much political clout or sense for that matter but it was fun to hear….
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