‘We’ve had a good life here but now it’s time to move on’... Anne and Martin bid farewell to McCormack's after 36 years

There's an old saying that goes: “In life you will meet two kinds of people. Ones who build you up, and ones who tear you down. But in the end, you will thank them both.”

In their time together as publicans Anne and Martin McCormack met all kinds of people. Funny people who made them laugh, people who were sad, people who were quiet, people who were talkative. Most people, the vast majority, were pleasant, courteous but some, no doubt, were not as pleasant they should have been - such is the way of the world.

During their time running the hostelry they met folk from many parts of the world. Tourists who were attracted by one of the finest examples of Norman architecture in Ireland or Europe itself - King John's Castle - located just across the road from their premises.

Americans, Australians, Asians, folk from just about every part of Europe walked through their doors. They paid a visit to McCormack's looking for a refreshing, relaxing drink as they took a break from their sightseeing. “It was their first pitstop,” says Anne.

Then there were the locals who called in to watch a match or a race or to simply meet up with old buddies and have a chat and a pint or three. They called too and stayed a while.

In the near 36 years running their eponymously-named bar in Castle Street in Trim, the McCormacks experienced a lot but one Sunday night recently they drew the curtain down on their day's trading - and their careers behind the counter. They called “time gentlemen and ladies please” for the last time.

Well, maybe they didn't use those words, but they did draw a line under their careers as publicans. They did call time... for the last time. Once they made the decision to call a halt it wasn't long until the day arrived to close up and move on and let the new owners move in.

“It was big occasion for us all right, our last night in the pub, the end of an era after all those years trading,” said Anne. “We met so many different characters over the years, some very funny people, with whom we had great laughs with. We've lost a few great characters too over the years, sadly, that's what happens, change happens. People move on, others take their place. That's life.

“There used to be really fantastic characters around the town but there doesn't seem to be as much of them about now as there once was - at least they don't seem to be as obvious.”

From behind the counter in their bar the McCormacks have witnessed so many other changes, in society, in their own trade too.

“The smoking ban was introduced for instance, the drink driving laws were changed,” adds Anne. “During the years we were here we met many people, genuine people with all their stories, the camaraderie was another big thing, the friendships. We've had a good life here but now it's time to move on.”

So the day after they closed for the last time the McCormacks were back in their bar gathering up bits and pieces they had picked up over the years. Taking stock. They could have been forgiven for stopping at the door for the last time before they left and looking around.

The memories, the emotions, may have come flooding back. Maybe not. Either way it was time for someone else to take the reins.

THE KINGDOM

It was on a trip down to the Kingdom of Kerry that Anne and Martin met up, over 40 years ago now. Martin is from Kildalkey and Anne from the Naul area of county Dublin. They hit it off and decided they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together. They married, settled close to Kildalkey and set about raising their family of two sons, Mark and Alan. Now they too have their own families. Life moves on.

As a young man Martin engaged in sport with gusto. He played hurling for Kildalkey but later turned out in the red of Trim. He also coached and was a busy referee, taking charge of hurling games at inter-county level.

He worked in the licensing trade, in Dublin for a while and in Trim such as McGee's (now closed) and Fay's Hotel (also no longer around ). He moved on from there and at a time when jobs were scarce and many people looked to America or Britain to carve out a new life, Martin got work where he could including spells with local builders. The pub business, however, drew him back.

He leased a bar in Trim for a few years on Emmet Street then he and Anne took the big plunge and decided to take over the premises on Castle Street they called, understandably enough, McCormacks. They were on their way. It was a risk as all ventures into business are, and it didn't start the way they would have hoped - or expected.

“On our first night we opened all those years ago we had a break in. We had opened up grand, good night, closed up afterwards. The next morning we came in and all the change, the floats, had been taken. There were, of course, no alarms or CC cameras around then. We just shrugged it off, pushed on.”

A rocky start but in time McCormacks was to gain a reputation as a clean and convivial place to go to, relaxing; one of the 'in' places in Trim.

BRAVEHEARTS

The years passed and the changes came. “Over the years people's drinking habits have altered, changed. Covid changed a lot. People are not going to the pub to socialise, they are drinking at home,” says Martin.

And yet he is not downbeat about the future prospects in the trade. “If you have a good venue, good drinks, a friendly atmosphere you'll have no problem getting people into your premises.”

Good hygiene and a cleanliness is, he suggests, vital. “Clean glassware, keep the lines clean and clear, all very important.”

Would he advise others to go into a sector that has received a lot of negativity in recent times? Yes, he would, as long as circumstances were right - and it's something people really want to do. If “you are young, full of energy and enthusiastic have a go” is his motto.

As Shakespeare himself wrote in Measure for Measure: “Doubts are our traitors / And make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt.”

It would have been understandable if - back in the early 1990s, when Ireland's economy lagged well behind what it is now - Anne and Martin McCormack had their doubts about ploughing their investment into a public house but they didn't let those doubts stop them. They pushed on in search of their dreams - and they have no regrets.

They were helped by the fact that they had a clear vision of what they wanted. “We aimed ourselves as a sports bar with people coming in to watch racing, soccer, Gaelic football, rugby whatever,” explains Martin. The McCormacks kept things relatively straightforward. They didn't go into providing food, at least not on a regular basis - and at a cost to the customer.

“Every year when Cheltenham would be on we would hand out soup and sandwiches to our customers, just a gesture of thanks to people,” added Anne.

During the filming of Braveheart there was a real buzz around the place. “We had Mel Gibson at our doorstep,” Anne says fondly recalling those days when the Castle was restored as 14th century York for the shooting. Days when Trim turned into Hollywood for a couple of weeks.

They were great times in many respects when the world was young and everything was possible. Now it's time for Martin and Anne to close one chapter and open another. They're happy with all that.

That's life, the way it works. Thirty-six years. How quickly they have flown by.