Home   News   Article

Enjoying the craic at Irish lunch club


By Contributor

Easier access to your trusted, local news. Subscribe to a digital package and support local news publishing.



Click here to sign up to our free newsletters!

Stone's Throw by Jamie Stone

Armagh holds a special place in Jamie's heart.
Armagh holds a special place in Jamie's heart.

Firstly, a belated Merry Christmas to all my readers.

You know, when I think of Christmas my mind very often strays to County Armagh in Ireland where my wife comes from. In the town of Armagh (though small Armagh is actually a city) there is an old club called the Armagh County Club.

Founded in 1869, it is today a wonderful anachronism that has changed very little since the day it came into being. A modest door between shopfronts in the centre of Armagh takes you into a time warp where you would really expect to encounter men with top hats, frock coats and long beards. It is dark, it is musty, it is wood panelled, and the carpets have frankly seen better days.

Up the stairs there is a long dining room, on its walls are faded prints of the civic worthies of yesteryear in that part of Ireland, the table is long and dark, and along each side are arranged a large number of balloon-back Victorian dining chairs with very worn leather covers.

On one side of the table is a glass panelled bar with an astonishing array of glasses and drinking vessels. On the other side is a surprisingly small attached kitchen – a kitchen which on a particular Thursday each month never ceases to surprise, for that is the day of the club lunch.

As I say, the club survives today, and I have been a member for many years. I am one of not more than 100 members, and I maintain my membership partly through affection for my wife’s family, but also because of that club lunch.

Posh outside caterers? Beef Wellington, foie gras and exotic continental desserts? Nah, forget it – the members do it all, and on those Thursdays it’s usually mince or stew with good Irish spuds, and maybe bread and butter pudding afterwards.

Of course the thing about Ireland is the ability of the Irish with words: it is no accident that so many great writers and poets hail from that island.

You see, it is the craic that makes the club lunch – swirled along by laughter and wit, the food becomes of secondary importance (although I have to admit that the wine does play a part!) and that is why I love the club so much.

When I first joined well over 30 years ago, I used to make a point of sitting beside the Reverend Frank Noel, a retired Church of Ireland clergyman who was one of the most bright and entertaining people I have ever met.

“Just a small whisky”, he would say before lunch, and “wouldn’t it just be a shame not to try the port”. He enjoyed his lunch as much as any of us.

“Are you acquainted with the work of WB Yeats?”

“I think I’m right in saying that your Tain saint Duthus died in Armagh...”

He knew so many things.

The reason that I write this column is that there is always a Thursday lunch in the run-up to Christmas, and because of joining my in-laws for the festivities, that was the lunch that I most regularly attended. Today I still treasure the memory of laughing with Frank. He was a good and wise man.

Here is a curious postscript to a somewhat rambling tale.

Some years ago, my wife discovered that Frank’s grandson Paddy was working in Inverness and so she thought it only right to invite him to come to Tain and have a meal with us. But that particular winter weekend my younger daughter happened to be staying with us – and she made a slight face about us entertaining a random person who she did not know.

“Mum – I just wanted a quiet weekend with you and Dad...”

Today they’re married and have two little boys and live in County Donegal in the west of Ireland.

I like to think it was the glass of port with Frank that brought these things to be.

Have a very Happy Hew Year.

Jamie Stone.
Jamie Stone.
  • Jamie Stone is the Liberal Democrat MP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross.

Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print.



This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies - Learn More