John B Keane is one of Ireland’s most legendary playwrights, the man behind The Field, Moll, and The Chasitute, which makes a return to the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin next week.

On Today with Sean O’Rourke, John B Keane’s son, Billy Keane, came into studio to talk about the play itself, his father’s love of rural Ireland, and how rural Ireland has changed radically since he was a young man.

Billy was as passionate and entertaining as ever, but when the conversation moved to the subject of the Irish pub, which he feels is a dying institution, that passion was very much worn on his sleeve.

‘Pubs are really struggling. Something needs to be done, or else you’ll have no pubs…. Listowel town, when I took over the bar, 25 years ago, we had 42. We are down to 13 now.’

The pub Billy runs, John B Keane’s, is an institution in Listowel, County Kerry, but changing habits and changing culture have made running this institution a real struggle. In many ways, they have had to adapt to changing styles and tastes, offering food, music, and other innovative events, in order to survive.

‘The pubs are trying hard. It’s become event-driven. The day of the old fella coming in, drinking 8 pints a night, it’s gone forever. He’s dead anyway, as he drank too much.’

However, Billy wasn’t shy about calling on the people of Ireland to make more of an effort themselves, in order to keep this institution alive. ‘It’s up to us to keep rural Ireland alive,’ said Billy. ‘It’s up to us to keep the pubs. If you are going to be sitting at home, with your feet in a foot spa, drinking a glass of red wine…. that’s fine. But come down to us, have a bit of craic, meet people.’

But apart from the people themselves, the people of Ireland, and the people who visit this land, the pubs of Ireland, rural pubs in particular, need more support from official Ireland. Not just government, but those institutions charged with promoting and maintaining our culture. Why shouldn’t the Irish pub be seen as a cultural institution, in the same way as artistic institutions are valued?

‘I see people getting arts grants for all kinds of things. They could put a well into the middle of the 50 acre field and say it’s an installation, and get a grant for it. Why not give a few quid towards the pubs, rural pubs, to put in a bit of Irish music? Is good for tourism, it’s good for the pubs. Pubs are dying fast.’

Billy acknowledges he has an advantage, given the famous name of his father, John B Keane. He is now one of just 13 pubs in Listowel town, but is still struggling. ‘When I’m finding it tough, everyone is finding it tough,’ he says. ‘The country places, the country pubs…. If you want them, don’t be sitting at home. Go out, get into the pub, and support your own.’

For more from Today with Sean O’Rourke, click here.

Photo credit: RTÉ Stills Archive