Shoppers in Omagh may have noticed a curious sight over the weekend as they took a closer inspection of what looked like a funeral procession at what is known as ‘the top of the town’.
A crew of five carried a length of wooden countertop and were lamented by a lonesome fiddle player as they proceeded from John Street, passed the courthouse with sombre expressions.
The fiddler was acclaimed local musician Shane McAleer and together with the “coffin bearers”, the six men were regulars at Myles K McCann’s, a local pub catering to musicians, characters and outsiders in the town for more than two decades.
While the shutters closed to the public for the final time just before Christmas, the last act of clearing out the premises took place last weekend.
The solid oak bar counter which has lapped up the spillage of countless pints of stout over the years, the last to go.
Owner Enda McCann, whose father Myles first opened the watering hole 21 years ago, has had to close the pub after he received a diagnosis of motor neurone disease last year.
“McCann’s was very significant in a sense for music and artists, just a nice friendly place and the idea around walking the bar out was the last nail in the coffin as such, to put it to rest,” Enda told the Irish News.
“We thought we would get our regulars and our staff together to carry the bar out for the final time.
“Shane was there as well and was a regular himself, we are all connected to it in a way so we just wanted to present that.
“It was tongue in cheek but a bit of craic too at the same time.
“It was quite a personal thing even taking the bar apart, it was quite brutal actually. It was my father’s pub and when he passed away it was quite significant to me.
“Having to take it apart was a bit of a curious one. Everyone who helped us to do that were all regulars, friends and staff members.
“There was a certain community spirit about the whole thing, it was nice to see.”
A venue known for hosting some of the best local music and musicians throughout its tenure, McCann’s also became infamous for providing a welcoming hand to those perhaps less interested in other bars around the town.
“A lot of our regulars were musicians, if they weren’t there playing they were there having a drink,” Enda says.
“It was just a really nice environment for everybody to be in in a lot of ways.
“Many people who came in were a bit like myself, kind of introverted and more focused on listening to music rather than sports for example.
“It was a place where we all kind of became friends naturally, a lot of my friends for the last 10 to 15 years I met through the pub.
“But that wasn’t just my circle too, it was just one of those places in Omagh where it was just more acceptable to the outsider.”
