22 Main Street
Randalstown
BT41 3AB
As soon as you cast your eyes on the front of this old traditional pub with its attractive colours of red and black, white walls, 7 green window boxes, and an attractive heraldic sign, you feel you’re in for a treat and I can assure you, you won’t be disappointed. The friendly prop. John O’Kane made me feel welcome within minutes. It was his grandfather, also called John, who opened a Spirit Grocery here in 1840 and it remained one till 1922 when the law closed down all such licences.
The Public Bar has been completely refurbished and rearranged but it is done with style and good taste and never once does it lose its traditional feeling. The bar itself is wonderful to behold with its solid mahogany counter studded with a row of 30 Art Deco style tiles in the style of Charles Rennie hand made in Scotland. Behind the counter are 6 original polished barrels with ornamental taps set in a carved showcase of mahogany and pine. Rustic tiles on the floor compliment the interior decoration. John admits to being a gatherer and a hoarder and it clearly shows. Look out for the large tea urn, used in past days to quench the thirst of the harvesters, black and white pictures of old Randalstown and two pictures of local amateur boxing champion, Alex Woods who was the Cruiser and heavyweight Boxing Champion of Ireland back in 1939. Fine antiques (you’ll find no reproductions here) include a McKenna and McGinley Mirror, and another one of Wilson, Kirker and Greer and a very rare Antique Mirror with the advertisement for Lancashire’s Aerated Water, Ballymena Co. emblazoned on it. All around the shelves are hurricane lamps and a large collection of very old bottles including some old crockery ones. At this stage John produced a beautiful coloured Barbara Allen print of the exterior of the bar which he has for sale at the reasonable price of £38.
The room adjoining is really the Sports room, but what drew my attention here was the illuminated display of an old Stout Bottling Plant, including a hand corker that was once used right here on the premises. It was a slow process in those days, bottling 4 bottles at a time with O’Kane’s branded name to the fore – (in fact there is a large blown up picture of this in the Lounge). All credit to John for making the Bottling plant a most interesting feature in the bar when so many bar owners have literally thrown theirs on the scrapheap.
The lounge is entered separately by a side entrance. It was formerly the old Stables and again John has captured the Olde Worlde atmosphere delightfully. I liked the little adverts of the Old Bleach Linen Co. once a thriving Company down by the banks of The Main closeby. The mahogany counter came from Tom Kelly’s Bar in the Short Strand in Belfast whilst the marble top came from a warehouse in Sheffield, and the carved background to the bar came from a bar in Strabane. John drew my attention to a copper framed Guinness advert and a Bushmills advert which states ‘Bushmills Pure Malt Whisky’ established 1784: Bushmills Distillery as we all know today, was founded in 1608 making it the oldest in the world. They didn’t discover that until much later times. I also like the amusing slogans around the walls. Here are some of them: ‘Credit given to customers aged over 80 when accompanied by both parents…’ ‘God does not deduct from our alloted life span the time spent drinking’ … ‘Please do not spit in the carriages, it is offensive to other passengers and is stated by the medical profession to be a source of serious disease.’
O’Kane’s is a real gem…its worth a detour.