The Fermanagh Herald's mystery shopper explains why he chose the Derrygonnelly bar as the Fermanagh Herald 'Pub of the Year'.
"Those of you who travel to the Derrygonnelly Traditional Music Festival every October will need no introduction to the 'session' pubs – Doogies, Knockmore, the Cosy and Old Pal's. A few years ago, the great Fermanagh musician, Jim McGrath, released a superb album called 'Melodious Accord' in which he reminded us that: 'many years ago people from Boho, Monea and Derrygonnelly would gather in our house in Cullen to sing, dance and joke the night away. My father who performed in many a concert hall in Fermanagh would bid them farewell in the early hours with the usual warning to drivers, 'keep her tween the ditches'.
"I recalled the McGrath lines as I travelled the old Famine Road from Enniskillen to Derrygonnelly and made myself at home in Old Pal's. They say you never get a second chance to make a first impression, and although I was a 'stranger' to all and sundry, there was a genuine warmth in the welcome from proprietor and customers.
"That it was tinged with a healthy curiosity only served to spice the subsequent conversations and before I left, I had made the acquaintance of Norman and the Big Hairy Man ...to mention but a few.
The pub is festooned with biking paraphernalia and within minutes, we were reminiscing about the late great Dunlop brothers and the merits of Harley Davidsons as against the old BSA 350 cc favoured by my father some 50 years ago.
"Old Pal's may be a 'session' pub, but the juke box was alternating between good American country and Rock n'Roll, and before long the conversation had switched to the legendary Chuck Berry. As I had to keep the motor 'tween the ditches', I pulled the plug after a frothy pint and reluctantly bade farewell to a place which is aptly named indeed.
"In Jim McGrath's 'Melodious Acccord, one of the tunes is called 'The Prince of Distillers', an honour conferred on the Knockmore poteen maker, George Howden, by local poet, Peter McGuinness. Old Pal's most definitely qualifies as 'The Prince of Pubs' in Fermanagh."
