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2020 The Life Brian O’Donnell took all this in his stride, It was only
what he expected. He sometimes sat for several hours,
29th, with his close friend, photographer Billy MacGill, out-
side the nearby Long Valley bar, drinking brandy,
July watching the world go by, and suitably insulting

| Of passers-by. One bank manager confided in me that it
was a badge of honor to be insulted by Brian. Tourists
EXAMINER He was probably best known for his banning of mobile
loved him and he was a tourist attraction in himself.
Brian has been described as legendary and iconic.

phones in the pub and his unique way of dealing with
IRISH Brian customers. The lord mayor was a regular and once he
brought American visitors in for a drink. When one of

when he was told to put it away. But that was part of
By Jim McKeon them attempted to make a mobile call he was shocked
Ever since Brian O’Donnell, the owner of the HI-B his charm. It wasn’t a regular pub. It was a place where
passed away, Cork’s city center has never been the conversation was encouraged and he did encourage it
same. The HI-B was not a normal pub. It could and in his own. To local publicans he was a legend and
was titled as an abnormal meeting place for the hierar- most of them admired what he did. He simply did
chy of Cork. It was never just a pub, a bar or a drinking what he did and ran the bar the way he wanted to
den where drinkers convened to drink. It was a com- whether you liked it or not. The rules were his rules
bination of many things; a small, unique, magnetic, take it or leave it. He was different in a good way.
raggle-taggle institution where you could mingle with There are countless stories about him but cus-
judges, bankers, barristers and newspaper men. tomers enjoyed his quirky ways. He enjoyed a brandy
Customers had to be careful what they did, what and he loved listening to the symphonies of Austrian
they said, how they said it or give an opinion that Brian composer, Gustav Mahler. Perhaps journalist Dan expulsion was not. Over-indulgence barely registered
did not agree with or there was a good chance he Buckley best summed him up when he pointed out with him and you would not come amiss for arguing
might be ejected. He was not a lover of strangers or the that Groucho Marx once said that he would never go loudly or too passionately so long as you exhibited high
younger element. to a club that would have him as a member. Anyone intelligence. He would even indulge you if you hap-
On my first ever visit with a friend, in our twenties, who has ventured up the rickety stairs of the HI-B will pened to enjoy singing the Neapolitan ballad Santa
well dressed, we were laughing at something when understand what he meant. Unlike today’s fancy clubs Lucia as gaeilge. He seemed to like that. But if you
Brian appeared at our table and told us to stop laugh- and sleek pubs, the tiny bar on Oliver Plunkett St. is were caught whispering on a mobile phone or, God
ing or leave the bar. While we were there a Guinness surreal, not so much a place as an experience; and it is forbid, texting, you would be immediately banished.
rep dropped by. They were old friends and Brian com- rejection rather than acceptance that is the mark of dis- Other, more venial, preoccupations would attract a
plemented his colorful tie. They ended up swopping tinction for most HI-B goers. variety of sanctions. Brian liked best the customer who
ties and both men were happy. Many of the clientele were highly irregular regulars, ordered something reassuringly expensive, and drink-
One day an American went to use his mobile and a bit like the HI-B owner, Brian O’Donnell, the some- ing too slowly irritated him no end. Wearing a loud tie
Brian quickly told him to leave. Another day for some times genial and more often grumpy despot who lived risked having it severed with a scissors, and adding coal
reason he refused to serve a group of Indonesians. He and reigned over the bar. Occasionally he gave over his to the fire was not recommended, as one customer
was suspicious of most strangers but even close friends reigning to do a bit of pouring but mostly you could found out as Brian took a slug from his pint in retalia-
were sometimes shown the red card. Mobile phones find him either aloft or next to the fireplace, surround- tion.
were banned in the HI-B. One well-known personality ed by newspapers and listening to classical music while Yet every few years Brian managed to attract a new
confessed that he could hardly believe that he he’d watching for miscreants within range of his beady eyes generation to the HI-B. This was just as well because
gone twelve months without being barred. and withering wit. every now and then he would decide on a mass culling
Brian had a certain fame in many far-off places and His Pythonesque ways were legendry. It was not a of clientele, and if it wasn’t for the large proportion of
he enjoyed this reputation. His eccentricity was well- surprise if he came downstairs into the bar dressed in young imbibers, there would be nobody left. So why
known. When many tourists arrived in Cork they did- his pyjamas. That might elicit a gasp of wonder in did people return again and again? It was hardly for the
n’t ask about Shandon or the Blarney Stone but more ordinary bars but not in the HI-B. His sartorial decor and certainly not for the dungeon-like gents.
enquired how to find the HI-B bar. There were many ways were well known and old customers still talk of There is only one word for it – craic, beloved of hard
famous guests. Entrepreneur, Noel Magnier, took the time he sat on a barstool in nothing but a tea-towel. drinkers and easy listeners. And the more cracked you
Bishop Buckley and Terry Wogan on a road-bowling Beware of venturing too far on the wrong side of were, the better. Brian O’Donnell was an extraordi-
experience. All Mr Wogan wanted to do was a visit to Brian, because while being occasionally shown what nary man who ran an extraordinary bar. He may be
the renowned HI-B bar and he televised it for the BBC. could be a notch on a customer’s character, permanent gone but his likes will never be seen again. C

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