![\"John](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/5212528_4_articleinlinemobile_DSC06382.jpeg\" "\\"John")
John Cotter and his father Jack Cotter at one of the tables in their bar, TP Cotter\u2019s in Macroom.<\/p>\nOpened almost a century ago by Timothy Patrick Cotter, and named ever since in his honour, TP Cotter\u2019s in Macroom is a pub steeped in history.<\/p>\n
Still bearing the family name at 14, Main Street, the town\u2019s heritage fills the bar and its surroundings, as current owner Jack Cotter explains.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe life-size image of the legendary blues and rock guitarist, Rory Gallagher, outside in the beer garden, was the original image used by Ireland\u2019s first major open-air festival in 1977, the Mountain Dew Festival, to advertise the event,\u201d says Jack.<\/p>\n
\u201cRory is in a fitting place out here in the garden among the flowers where everyone can admire him and reminisce about him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jack and and his wife Breda\u2019s bank of memorabilia includes an original framed ticket costing two pounds fifty pence to access the event almost 50 years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe festival created a fantastic atmosphere,\u201d says Jack. \u201cMy dad used to be at the castle gate taking tickets. I remember Paul Brady talked to him at the gate.\u201d<\/p>\n
John Cotter and his father Jack Cotter at one of the tables in their bar, TP Cotter\u2019s in Macroom.<\/p>\n
They were good old days.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Mountain Dew Festival was a huge event, drawing crowds of music fans from around the country,\u201d says Jack, who has been working in the bar for 53 years, since he was 17.<\/p>\n
It was held annually from 1976 to 1982 in the grounds of Macroom Castle.<\/p>\n
I am curious about another framed tribute to a great man inside the bar – Timothy Patrick Cotter, who left family behind in Inchigeela to seek his fortune in the US.<\/p>\n
\u2018Timothy Patrick travelled in the hope that one day he would return to Ireland and set up his own business,\u2019 states the tribute.<\/p>\n
He must have made his fortune across the Atlantic because Timothy Patrick bought not one pub, but three, one for each of two of his daughters.<\/p>\n
Timothy Patrick had four daughters and one son.<\/p>\n
Where were those two pubs located that TP bought for his daughters?<\/p>\n
\u201cHis daughters\u2019 pubs were both in the city,\u201d says Jack, the grandson of TP, who took over TP Cotter\u2019s in Macroom when his dad died in 1988.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Mountain Bar in Evergreen Street, and Cotter\u2019s in Barrack Street, now known as Mr Bradley\u2019s,\u201d adds Jack, who like his grandfather is very much at home in his own pub on Macroom\u2019s main street.<\/p>\n
![\"John](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/5212531_4_articleinlinemobile_DSC06385.jpeg\" "\\"John")
John Cotter and his father Jack Cotter at\u00a0 TP Cotter\u2019s in Macroom. Pictures: Noel Sweeney.<\/p>\n
What was TP\u2019s profession in the US?<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t know a whole lot about him,\u201d says Jack. \u201cWe think he was a chef.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jack knows that his grandfather bought the Macroom pub, a fixture on Main Street since 1902, at an auction when he returned from America.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe auction was held at the Town Hall in the square, and by all accounts TP upped the bidding,\u201d says Jack who has sons, David, and John, and a daughter, Maeve, with wife Breda.<\/p>\n
Jack may not have sought his fortune across the Atlantic Ocean, but fortune smiled upon him when he met Breda. The couple married in 1989.<\/p>\n
\u201cBreda\u2019s mother, Sheila Lynch, owned the Castle Bar in Macroom,\u201d says Jack.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew the score being the daughter of a publican,\u201d says Breda. \u201cI was well used to the trade which helped.\u201d<\/p>\n
Did Jack chat Breda up at her homestead?<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. She chatted me up!\u201d says Jack.\u201cWe were part of the same crowd.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fortune favours the brave, and the young couple took over TP Cotter\u2019s when Jeremiah Cotter passed away, and never looked back.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe love trading in the town,\u201d says Jack. \u201cThe people are wonderful. Day-trippers passing through Macroom return again and again.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur customers are very loyal. Our staff are very loyal, the majority of them working here with us more than 20 years. Our chef, Paula from Kilnamartyra, is here 25 years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Old friends are missed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe lost one of our dear friends, one of our beloved customers, a member of staff, and our neighbour, Lorraine, recently,\u201d says Breda.<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/5212534_4_articleinlinemobile_DSC06362.jpeg\" "\\"The")
The father and son beside a proud slogan for the town of Macroom.<\/p>\n
\u201cLorraine was only 56 and she is sadly missed. She could keep the whole place going.\u201d<\/p>\n
Is Jack, a native of Macroom, proof of the old adage of \u2018the town that never raised a fool\u2019? He must be a good businessman, like his grandfather and father before him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know about that!\u201d says Jack laughing. \u201cI took a chance on it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Like Breda, Jack was au fait with the pub business.<\/p>\n
\u201cI went to school here in Macroom,\u201d says Jack. \u201cI always helped out in the pub. After doing my Leaving Cert I had the option of staying here.\u201d<\/p>\n
The rest is history.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe also own next door, which was once the telephone exchange,\u201d says Jack.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe did up the bar in 1990, the year of Italia \u201990.\u201d<\/p>\n
Billy Casey was the local builder.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m coming in to start the job, whether Ireland are winning or losing,\u201d Billy told Jack.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe place used be mobbed during the World Cup,\u201d said Jack.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe garden section was a shebeen back then and that was mobbed too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ireland\u2019s fortunes changed when Billy arrived at TP Cotter\u2019s to begin renovations.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat night they were beaten by Italy!\u201d says Jack. \u201cWe have great memories of Italia \u201990.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jack and Breda reared their family up over the premises before they bought a private house in the town 20 years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe reared them here and we educated them here,\u201d says Breda. \u201cWe made a good living.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe loved the company of our friends over the years who came into the pub,\u201d adds Breda.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do a good trade with live music, and we show all the live GAA matches and soccer matches on TV. The weekends here are jointed,\u201d says Breda.<\/p>\n
\u201cOpening at 10am for breakfast, we welcome the first customers of the day. We serve lunch and dinner as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur customers are a mix of young and old, and they all mix away together.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some customers can\u2019t be replaced.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is true,\u201d says Jack. \u201cI still expect to see Billy sitting at his usual spot at the end of the bar. We lost him last year.<\/p>\n
\n \u201cThere is no replacing the characters who used to bring their own \u2018something\u2019 to the place.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
The smoking ban in 2004 was a fortunate move by the Government of the day.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a great move,\u201d says Jack. \u201cThe shebeen outside was a blessing in disguise when the smoking ban came in. People could congregate out there for a smoke. The shebeen has progressed over the years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Christmas dinner was served at TP Cotter\u2019s over the years.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had our \u2018own\u2019 Christmas for the customers,\u201d says Jack. \u201cWe served Christmas dinner. The banter and the cr\u00e1ic was always in full swing.\u201d<\/p>\n
The postman\u2019s ball was always in full swing too.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe held the ball next door every year with a DJ,\u201d says Jack.<\/p>\n
One postman attending the ball got a surprise when he collected his bike the next morning.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis bike had been painted white!\u201d recalls Jack. \u201cHe was still a bit tipsy, and he wasn\u2019t sure quite what colour his bike was!\u201d<\/p>\n
Covid brought its own challenges.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember we had two tables set up outside where four at a table could sit,\u201d says Breda. \u201cWe offered food, all home-made, for under \u20ac9, something not so big but tasty.\u201d<\/p>\n
The loyal customers had their own ideas.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember going out with a tape measure, making sure the distancing regulations were in place,\u201d says Breda. \u201cEvery time I came out, the two tables were pushed together! We asked what could we do to keep people apart?\u201d<\/p>\n
The only time Jack and Breda were apart was when Jack had heart surgery during Covid.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a worrying time,\u201d says Breda. \u201cJack was in CUH for three months.\u201d<\/p>\n
The customers rowed in when he returned to 14, Main Street.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe customers brought me out on day trips,\u201d says Jack. \u201cI made a whole new crew of friends and now I go to matches with them every Thursday.\u201d<\/p>\n
Paula arrives out in the sunny sun trap in the beer garden with coffee, fresh scones, cream and jam.<\/p>\n
\u201cI make the scones and the apple tarts every day,\u201d says Breda. \u201cI like baking. I never freeze anything. It must always be fresh.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jack is off to bring a cash register and cash float to the castle grounds for an outdoor event happening in the town.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlease call again when you are passing,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Ah Jack. I\u2019m no fool either!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Opened almost a century ago by Timothy Patrick Cotter, and named ever since in his honour, TP Cotter\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":611199,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[169823,93,61,60,10414],"class_list":["post-611198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-echo-instagram","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-pub"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611198","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=611198"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611198\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/611199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=611198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=611198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=611198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}