Tralee

&nbsp;Sean Og’s Bar and B&amp;B&nbsp;&nbsp;
By Georgina Downes&nbsp;
I’m sitting in Sean Óg’s with the inimitable Johnny McElligot, discussing the history of the pub. The place is custom built, he says. I think he’s joking; it looks so authentic – surely it’s always been a pub.&nbsp;
“No. It’s been a casino, a shop, but never a pub before. It was built from the ground up with architect Ger Dowd.”&nbsp;
I’m shocked, and not for the first time chatting to Johnny McElligot; the man is full of surprises. For instance; he was working in Berlin when The Wall came down (yes, he took a piece as a souvenir); he’s a big classical-music fan; his mother used to call him Sean Óg and he bought this iconic Bridge Street pub when he was barely twenty years old.&nbsp;
“We wanted the place to look olde-worlde,” he says.&nbsp;
Box ticked. When you walk into Sean Óg’s, with the music hopping and Guinness flowing, it’s easy to imagine your great-grandfather enjoying a pint in front of the fire. But how did the very young McElligot afford to buy a pub?&nbsp;
In his affable way, and with all the confidence of a man whose done well for himself, Johnny explains.&nbsp;
“My family background is in farming and my mother had a boutique in Ashe Street. I was sent boarding when I was 12, to the Salesian’s in Pallaskenery.”&nbsp;
Did you like it?&nbsp;
“Loved it,” he says without hesitation.&nbsp;
Any favourite teachers?&nbsp;
“Fr Padraig Donnellan. He taught English. He gave me an appreciation of poetry.”&nbsp;
At this point, bar manager, Timy Moynihan, stops polishing glasses to let out a chuckle. Johnny laughs too. Any particular poet, I ask.&nbsp;
“Wordsworth,” he smiles. I don’t ask him to recite any.&nbsp;
After four happy years boarding, Johnny sat the Leaving Cert. He applied to NIHE and got a place to study accountancy but decided to head west instead.&nbsp;
“I went to America when I was sixteen, working. I stayed with relatives in New York and Long Island, and worked on the buildings. My first job was with Galvin’s, an Irish-owned construction company. Basically, we worked hard and never went out. I became foreman for a scaffolding company then and just saved my money. I stayed there until 1995.”&nbsp;
In 1989, on one of his trips home, he bought Sean Óg’s, but didn’t tackle its conversion and restoration until 1996,which included creating the Guest House upstairs.&nbsp;
“We opened ‘The Shed’ in May 2019, which has been great. You need to be able to hold a lot of people, especially if you’re doing live music. Tourists love it and 40% of our business is from tourism.”&nbsp;
Johnny’s wife Joan, whom he married in 1999, is the backbone of the family and the woman behind his success, he tells me.&nbsp;
How did you two meet?&nbsp;
“Joan came to work behind the bar. She doesn’t work here now but she does the interiors and design and things.”&nbsp;
Joan also runs a busy home with three children. Their eldest son is studying Opera in Dublin, their daughter is doing her leaving cert and the youngest is in transition year.&nbsp;
Johnny’s phone rings again. He excuses himself to take the call and I look over my notes. McElligot has been around. He’s toured Europe twice, on a Honda Goldwing. Motorbikes are his passion. He owns an FJ 1200 Yamaha and a Kawasaki. But skiing is his passion too. And fishing. And business. And music. In fact, Johnny is passionate about life in general, which makes him good company and a great interviewee.&nbsp;
Now that you’ve achieved a modicum of success in business, any signs of slowing down, I ask.&nbsp;
“Not a hope,” he laughs. “Actually, we Just got planning permission to do a wine, gin and whiskey bar around the corner. Hopefully, all going well, we’ll see it open in May 2021.”&nbsp;
I could talk with Johnny all day, uncovering all sorts of anecdotes, but we don’t have the time so I put together this quick-fire questionnaire. Johnny, are you ready?&nbsp;
“Fire away.”&nbsp;
Fish &amp; Chips or Fine Dining: Fish and chips&nbsp;
Morning Bird or Night Owl: Night Owl&nbsp;
Text or Call: Call&nbsp;
Tea or Coffee: Coffee&nbsp;
Sea or Woods: Sea&nbsp;
Books or Movies: Movies: The Godfather is a favourite&nbsp;
Newspaper or Online: Newspaper, The Times or Indo&nbsp;
Love or Money: Love making money&nbsp;
Pop or Classical: Classical. Bach or Tchaikovsky. I have classical Spotify list.&nbsp;
Comedy or Drama: Drama&nbsp;
Soccer or Football: Football&nbsp;
Cats or Dogs: Dogs&nbsp;
Stubble or Clean Shaven: Clean Shaven&nbsp;
Starter or Desert: Both&nbsp;
Hunting or Fishing: Fishing. Used to fish. Always had a boat in Fenit for fishing. Would fish for sea bass.&nbsp;
Winter or Summer: Winter, for skiing&nbsp;
Rural or Urban: Rural&nbsp;
Android or I phone: I phone&nbsp;
Ketchup or Mustard: Ketchup&nbsp;
Tattoos or Piercings: Neither&nbsp;
Exercise or Couch Potato: Mixture&nbsp;
Money or Free Time: Free time.&nbsp;
And finally, what tips have you for any budding entrepreneur?&nbsp;
“Make sure you have your market research done. And get good staff. Work hard and move with the times. And have passion,” he says unsurprisingly, smiling.&nbsp;
Johnny McElligot, it’s been a pleasure.&nbsp;&nbsp;

''You Have to Have Passion''

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