This article is from page 87 of the 2008-07-22 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 87 JPG
IF EVER Guinness goes out of busi- ness, barman Joe Sciascia will be worth a fortune.
Joe would be the first to tell you he’s more of a collector than a bar- man, and he has what must be one of the largest collections of original Guinness and old advertising signs in the country.
He’s lost count, but there are up- wards of 5,000 pieces of advertising memorabilia, between signs, ciga- rette cartons, tobacco tins and other items passed over bar counters in years gone by.
So vast is his collection, that Joe quips that the Old Mill Bar in
O’Briensbridge, which he runs with his wife Kathleen and step-daugh- ter Clodagh “was bought so I would have somewhere to put it”.
The Old Mull recently won the Licensing World magazine’s, Bar Awards, in the Best Country Bar cat- OMe
Joe claims no glory for the win, “It’s the hard work that Kathleen and Clodagh put in – I’m no great shakes this side of the bar.”
Whatever about his bar skills, as a collector you wouldn’t doubt Joe. He started 25 years ago and has been scouring car-boot sales, markets and second-hand shops ever since.
“I find stuff everywhere and cus- tomers bring things in as well. I have
my own little museum here.”
Joe’s imagination was caught by the old advertising and he particu- larly loves his collection of “original – not reproductions” of the John Gil- roy Guiness ads, featuring the “See What One or Toucan Do” and “Guin- ness is good for you” themes.
Some of his signs are now almost a century old.
“Advertising and packaging was far more decorative before TV. It had to make a visual impression. It’s not like that anymore. You wouldn’t col- lect most of the packaging they use Old
Joe and Kathleen took over the pub ten years ago and since have invested €300,000 to bring it back to it’s old
(ey ule meso ate
“The old pubs are dying out. We wanted to keep the old character here and the old ads and signs fit in with that,’ said Joe.
The family is delighted with the AEN KOR
“It’s not one of these that you can go online and buy – there are a lot of those out there. The judges liked the place, though I’m surprised they saw anything, there were so many peo- ple here at the time. They arrived on Sunday when we were doing lunch.”