I arrived in ‘Cross’, as the locals call it, around 3 0’clock on a Wednesday afternoon in late April.
I called in at McCuskers, with its attractive-looking bar front, only to find it was not a bar but a Ladies’ Hairdresser!
The next genuine 5 bars I called at were surprisingly shut, but I eventually got one open, and that was McConville’s in the large square.


The friendly owner of the same name, whose family have been here since 1830, told me there were 14 pubs in the town, but none of them is opened before 7.00 any evening, except Friday and Saturday, and the only reason he opened every day was because next door he ran an Off Licence and a Grocer’s Shop.

Later, in the early evening, I went to visit CHUMS (formerly Trainers) in the Square, a very small modern pub built in 1989 but very nice indeed.

Hanratty’s in Newry Street has been unchanged since 1926, and the same goes for Paddy Shaw in North Street.

So be warned, if you are going for a pub crawl in Cross, leave it to late in the evening.