An Homage to Irish Pubs

Today's Boston Globe has a brief essay, adapted from a forthcoming book on the Irish Pub. I think Eileen McNamara, a Globe columnist who provides the text for what appears to be a coffee table book, The Parting Glass: A Toast to the Traditional Pubs of Ireland, overstates the argument that the traditional Irish pub is disappearing in favor of megapubs. I have spent a lot of time in Ireland and have covered most all of the country extensively, and I can assure you that the traditional pub is alive and well, even if in the cities and larger towns it faces competition. Nonetheless, with St. Patrick's Day just passed, an homage to the traditional pub, a place of warmth and friendship and whiling away the time over a pint or two, seems appropriate.