![\"Eoin](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/5057567_1_articleinlinemobile_LC_20rob_20roy_20bar_20cobh_2001.jpg\" "\\"Eoin")
Eoin McCarthy outside his pub, the Rob Roy Bar, in Pearse Square, Cobh. He says: \u201cWhen the cruise ships arrive, there is always a buzz.\u201d Picture: Larry Cummins<\/p>\nSince the age of 14, Eoin McCarthy has been working in the service sector in his home town of Cobh.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt 14, I worked in local shops, and at 17 I worked in the local hotel, The Commodore,\u201d says Eoin.<\/p>\n
For the last three years, he has been leasing the Rob Roy Bar in Pearse Square in the centre of Cobh from the owners, the Allen family.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel very lucky because of the massive support from the locals here, from the wider community, and from the other publicans and businesses in the town,\u201d says Eoin.<\/p>\n
The Rob Roy is a cosy, welcoming, traditional pub sporting maritime memorabilia that reflects Cobh\u2019s history. It has a long history.<\/p>\n
It is recorded as \u2018The Rob Roy & Commercial Inn\u2019 in Slaters 1846 Directory and the \u2018Rob Roy Hotel\u2019 in 1867. Many emigrants spent their last night upstairs here before departing for the shores of America.<\/p>\n
Eoin, who studied Hospitality Management in GMIT, never thought about leaving Cobh, where he was born and bred and where he now lives with his partner Freda.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I started work in the Commodore, I was collecting glasses and bottles,\u201d he says . \u201cWhen I left the hotel, I was operations manager.\u201d<\/p>\n
Why did he enter the pub sector?<\/p>\n
\u201cI realised that over the years I had worked for so many people, either in pubs or hotels, but never for myself,\u201d says Eoin.<\/p>\n
\u201cI said I\u2019d give it a go when I leased the Rob Roy. I love the craic with the customers.\u201d<\/p>\n
But is it not all work and no play? I tell Eoin that is why my parents sold their pub in the late 1970s.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, I agree the hours are long and the pub business can be hard work,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n \u201cAt the start, after taking over the Rob Roy, I was working 90 to 100 hours every week. After a year, I worked less hours and now I work 50 hours a week. I have a life.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
Eoin has good fun and enjoys good camaraderie with his customers.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have great fun and a bit of banter with the customers. I was very lucky that I knew the locals well and I am very well supported. I think you can\u2019t beat Cobh for support and the way everyone helps each other out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Visitors to Cobh enjoy the fun and banter too.<\/p>\n
\u201cCruise liner season began on April 13 when the ships start coming in,\u201d says Eoin. \u201cThe season lasts until the end of October.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the cruise ships arrive, there is always a bit of a buzz. There is music on the street. People sit out on the street in the sunshine in front of the sparkling sea and enjoy themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
Business is good.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe bar at the front and the lounge at the back are full when people enjoy what we have on offer,\u201d says Eoin. \u201cThe offerings of the liquid variety always go down well!\u201d<\/p>\n
The welcome on the mat at the Rob Roy goes down well.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast Monday night, we had a crew of 30 Greek lads from a ship docked in the harbour. They showed us Greek dances and the craic was only mighty!\u201d says Eoin.<\/p>\n
It is often a case of round the house and mind the dresser at the Rob Roy.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn Tuesday nights we have set dancing,\u201d says Eoin.<\/p>\n
Good vibrations abound.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe place is hopping. On Wednesday, we had local musicians shooting a video in the pub. There is always something going on.\u201d<\/p>\n
There is something for everyone at the Rob Roy.<\/p>\n
\u201cBoard games are popular in the lounge,\u201d says Eoin. \u201cTwister is always a good laugh for the customers. There is a good mix of people of all ages. On a Friday night, we can have ages 20 to 70, all having a great time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eoin McCarthy outside his pub, the Rob Roy Bar, in Pearse Square, Cobh. He says: \u201cWhen the cruise ships arrive, there is always a buzz.\u201d Picture: Larry Cummins<\/p>\n
Cobh, renowned in song and in story, has a rich history and culture.<\/p>\n
\u201cCharacters who are retired, coming in here that the lads know well, tell brilliant stories,\u201d says Eoin.<\/p>\n
Like what?<\/p>\n
\u201cStories about the naval dockyard. the Verolme dockyard, the IFI (Irish Fertiliser Industry) in Cobh, a serious operation that had its own rail connection and deep-water port.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey tell us stories of what they got away with!\u201d says Eoin, laughing.<\/p>\n
Nobody gets away with much at the Rob Roy.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnofficially, the old-timers all have their reserved seats and bar stools,\u201d says Eoin. \u201cAlmost everyone knows what seat belongs to who. No words are exchanged. Whoever is occupying the \u2018reserved\u2019 seat automatically moves to another seat!\u201d<\/p>\n
In the early 2000s, the Rob Roy was known as a rock bar. In recent years traditional music is on the music agenda too.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do a mix of both,\u201d says Eoin. \u201cEvery Friday and Saturday night we have live bands play in the pub and on Sunday evenings there is a trad night. Somebody always strikes up a tune and others join in.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Cobh Trad Fest brings its own unique buzz to the town each July. \u201cIt is a brilliant weekend for all the family,\u201d says Eoin.<\/p>\n
The town is alive with the sound of music. \u201cMusic sessions are in the pubs and music and dance performances out on the street,\u201d says Eoin. \u201cThere are sessions, folk music workshops, set-dancing, something for people near and far to enjoy. Cobh is a huge hub of music, dancing, and good fun the whole weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Rob Roy, king of the town square, is a hub of its own.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe like to think so,\u201d says Eoin, who employs several local full-timers and part-timers in the bar.<\/p>\n
\u201cStephen Walsh, my manager, is a mighty man,\u201d says Eoin. \u201cThere are six of us working here in total.\u201d<\/p>\n
The publicans of Cobh are mighty men.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are 13 pubs in Cobh and there are 20 plus licensed premises in Cobh,\u201d says Eoin. \u201cWe all look out for each other. The local chamber put in huge effort to promote and support the town.\u201d<\/p>\n
The bar and the town are a melting pot.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had a dozen tourists from the UK, Spain and Brazil in here during the week, and a man from Arizona in this morning,\u201d says Eoin. \u201cHe lives here during the summer as the temperature in Arizona then can reach up to 48C.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eoin has his mum and dad living nearby.<\/p>\n
\u201cDad is a carpenter by trade,\u201d says Eoin. \u201cHe is the handy man around here.\u201d<\/p>\n
And mum?<\/p>\n
\u201cMum has an eye for design,\u201d says Eoin. \u201cShe did all the window boxes full of flowers out on the windowsills.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eoin smells the roses in the Rob Roy every day.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just feel so lucky,\u201d he says. \u201cYou must come back to visit us during the folk festival in July.\u201d<\/p>\n
I\u2019d better not sit on any of the \u2018reserved\u2019 seats then.<\/p>\n
\u201cBetter not,\u201d says Eoin, enjoying the banter. \u201cYou wouldn\u2019t get away with it!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Since the age of 14, Eoin McCarthy has been working in the service sector in his home town…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":421516,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[43164,61,60,112],"class_list":["post-421515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-east-cork","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=421515"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421515\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/421516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=421515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=421515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=421515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}