Luck of the Irish – Clancy’s Irish Bar

Natalie Grealish has owned Clancy’s Irish Bar for years along with her husband Martin, and transformed it into one of the mountain’s most iconic places to kick back and relax. Today she tells all, from the magic of live music to the inevitable passing of the torch.

by Kyle Hitchmough

What made you want to open a place like Clancy’s on the mountain?

My husband’s Irish, and we met in Ireland. We married over here in 2000 and worked for a while on the coast and opened up an Irish bar. It was a good litmus test, we realized we didn’t want to be on the Gold Coast. We did a bit of travelling, and kept coming up to the Mountain saying, “this place makes us feel calm!” We’re used to smaller communities where people know each other and look out for each other. The Gold Coast has its own appeal but we like living in a community, which this is.

What do you define as an ‘Irish pub’?

I think people have grown to believe it’s a ‘theme’. For us, it’s got to do more with the identity. Martin is Irish, so he strongly identifies—I have Irish heritage and I’ve lived in Ireland. I enjoy the Irish hospitality the way the Irish do it. A lot of Australian bars are a little bit formulaic. When we opened it was to invite people in, provide a good product, meals and a good pint, a bit of live music, and make the place warm and inviting. If people have a good time, they keep coming back. We have  customers who have been with us since the beginning who are still returning. It’s the ambience that draws people in.

Do you have a most popular menu item?

The stew and the beef and Guinness pie. They’re things you see all over in pubs in Ireland. It’s great food to eat with a beer and easy to share. They are not pub standards and people come back just for them.

You have live music here, correct?

We’ve got a house band that’s been coming for at least a dozen years. They’re very special people to us. They come up every Sunday and do a session with Martin. They just love music, they come up and play and we’ve become good friends over the years.

Obviously, you take pride in your stock of beers. What brands do you offer?

Guinness and Kilkenny which are the significant Irish brands. Then we do 150 Lashes, James McGuire and Furphy, which are Australian brands. Bulmers and Hahn’s Super Dry. It’s a decent selection and all of it moves.

Do you have a typical kind of clientele?

Not really. There’s no age demographic. We do get quite a lot of Irish people up here. They hear about it: there’s been a few reports in the Irish Echo over the years, as to where to get a good Guinness and the like, keeping travellers or new residents finding us. There’s probably a core group of Irish people who live here now, who visit fairly regularly.

What’s your opinion on the mountain community?

There’s more transition up here. You’ll see people you’ve never seen before. It’s a small town but there’s still movement. I think people move here for very similar reasons, they want to live in a small town like this, but sometimes the commute gets too much for them. People get together for different reasons, church, the pub, bowls, golf, whatever.

What do you think Clancy’s represents to the area?

A meeting place I think. We live in the community, our kids go to school here, so we’ve been fairly involved in the community in a lot of ways. It’s a place where people can come and feel comfortable, talk and listen to music. People who play an instrument can join in. Over the years there have been people who come up and play, they bring the banjo or the harmonica or the guitar or whatever and just sit in. We’ve made a lot of friendships around the music. It’s just about sharing time.

What do you enjoy most about doing this?

Probably the interaction with people, and certainly the locals and regulars who I’ve forged friendships with through here. That wasn’t always expected. Tthe people who I meet here I see around the community as well. It’s very social, that’s the long and short of it.

You’re actually looking to sell Clancy’s soon. Though it will be sad to see you go, do you have any particular hopes for what might happen to the place when it moves into new hands?

I think when it’s all said and done, when it’s no longer our business it’s none of our business. There’s no way we can really manage what happens afterwards. There’s room in the business to grow, for people to put their own stamp on something like this and build on what it is.

What’s your most memorable experience working here?

There’s a lot, honestly… but I think it’s like Fight Club, you know. You had to be there!

 

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