Moynalvey community devastated as Scut Fagan's pub destroyed by fire
Centuries old hostelry famous for TV shows and film locations
Residents of Moynalvey woke up this morning to the devastating news that Scut Fagan's Pub had been destroyed by fire overnight.
This morning, some five Meath County Fire Service tenders are working to make the building safe as locals come to terms with the New Year's Eve news.
The cause of the blaze is undetermined with Gardai confirming that "the scene has been held for a technical examination and enquiries are ongoing."
The famous landmark pub has been at the heart of the Moynalvey district for generations, and has featured in movies and television series. The fire was first reported in the early hours of this morning, around 4.30am/5am, and thankfully, there was no injury or loss of life.
The loss of the establishment will come as a huge blow to the area, as it was the only community gathering space for social events and functions, especially since the closure of nearby Dorey's Forge.
Paddy and Kay Fagan famously ran the pub for almost four decades until their retirement in 1999.
Paddy Fagan's mother, Jane, was was a member of the Brien family who had owned the pub at the turn of the 20th century, and she had been born there. Fagan's Pub became the centre of social activities in Moynalvey under Paddy and Kay from 1961. He was regarded as one of the great Irish publicans with the ability to converse on sport, politics, religion, delicate and indelicate matters, keep secrets, listen to people's problems, give advice and help people, according to the history of Moynalvey parish, published in 1999.
Frequent visitors were the travelling show people, McCormacks, who stayed in Fagan's yard each winter, with Kevin McCormack painting the sign over the door.
The pub became famous on the 1970s RTE satire series, 'Hall's Pictorial Weekly', where the fictitious village of Ballymagash featured, with the pub scenes filmed in Fagan's. The crew, including Frank Hall, Frank Kelly, Eamon Morrissey and Brendan Caldwell, filmed from Monday to Friday.
Almost as famous as Ballymagash was the bar woman at Fagan's, the late Pauline Byrne of Summerhill.
Paddy also appeared on an RTE current affairs show with Frank Hall, where he was interviewed about alcohol in society, young drinkers, buying rounds of drink and credit in pubs, for 'Ireland's Eye' in October 1980.
When the Fagan's sold the premises to the late Trevor Reilly and family from Maynooth in 1999, the then parish priest, the late Fr Peter Mulvany, paid tribute to Paddy and Kay Fagan.
Moynalvey History Group used the relaxed atmosphere of the inner snug of Fagan's to gather stories, memories and documents for their 1999 parish history publication. In an interview for the book, Paddy and Kay said: “The day of the auction was an emotional one. We had met and got to know a lot of people over the 38 years we were here, three generations of families in some cases, and we would have seen them come and go in that time.”
In more recent times, the pub has been used as a location for the Academy Award-nominated film, 'An Cailín Ciuin', and featured in Natasha Duffy's series of short documentaries looking at some of Meath's oldest and most authentic public houses and pub experiences for RTÉ Culture. The Ward Union Hunt held their annual pre-Christmas meet there on 21st December.