Bould Biddy’s winds down after 17 years

Pic: Michael McLaughlin

Bould Biddy winds down after 17 years


Neill O'Neill

AFTER 17 years behind the counter of her iconic Westport pub, Breege Kilroy brought the shutters down on Bould Biddy’s for the last time on Wednesday, October 8. While it was a hard decision to make, Breege closed her Mill Street premises not because she was forced to, but because she wanted to.
Before she opened Bould Biddy’s on September 9, 1997, Breege was well-known locally from her many years on James Street, where her she and her late husband, Pat, and family operated Kilroy Bodyworks and crash repairs for two decades. But she wanted a different kind of challenge, and Bould Biddy’s fulfilled that desire.
“We had a business on James Street which was sold. I wanted to do something and was friendly with SeΡmus Foy who owned Bould Biddy’s at the time, under the name Harvey’s. He said he was planning to lease his pub, and I said I’d love to give it a go.
“I had experience as I used to work in Ted Lavelle’s in Achill, in P Sweeney and Sons in Achill Sound and in Dan McGing’s, which is now Matt Molloy’s. We leased the premises in 1997 for five years. Then it went on the market and in 2002 my family bought it and left me there to continue the business.”

Bould choice
Breege’s full name is Bridget, which is also the name of her youngest daughter, who was always called Biddy at home. Around the time Breege’s pub was opening, her son-in-law Trevor knew of a pub in Ballinasloe called Bould Biddy’s that was closing, and that sealed the name of the new business.
Just a couple of weeks into retirement and Breege is not yet pining for her pub. “I don’t miss it at the moment because I’m not long closed and have lots of loose ends to tie up. I loved it most of the time, though there were times I didn’t. The old quote I used to say was ‘Some people bring happiness to this pub, some by coming and some by leaving’, but I met lovely people there and had the best of times.
“We had great musicians and it was a great spot for traditional music. The fun and the craic we had was special. I’ll have to find a new watering hole now. It’ll be strange. I’ll want to jump up and pick the empty glasses.
“I had the same musicians there every Friday and Saturday night for 17 years, and a lot of the same customers. Some are dead and gone now, God rest them. I just hope it opens up again, and I hope they could keep the name, that might be wishful thinking but I’d love for that to happen.”

Plans
Turning 70 at her next birthday, Breege admits retirement has been on her mind for a while.
“I’m 69 and tired, I thought about going but put it on the long finger, I was working seven days a week for the last 17 years and had no life outside the pub ’cause I was too tired to think about it. I had to make this decision or else they’d find me dead behind the counter some day.
“We thought we might leave it open until a buyer came, but it wasn’t feasible for one of the family to commit full time to it, with young children and their own jobs. I’d love to see Bould Biddy’s open again, but it won’t be me behind it, I need time for myself now and my family and my eight grandchildren. I need to chill out.”
Breege, who lives in Sheeaune, Westport, is a native of Achill. She looks forward to getting back to Achill more now that she will have free time.
She met her late husband, Pat, when she was working in Sweeney’s, and the couple moved to Westport before leaving for Brighton in England and getting married. They subsequently returned to Westport to set up their business and rear their five children: Jenny, Ricky, Jamie, Marita and Bridget.
“They said my ghost would be seen on James Street,” she says referring to her association with Kilroy Bodyworks, which closed on James Street in 1996. “It may be Mill Street now,” she quips.
“We started that bodyworks business in 1979. The filling station had always been out the front, but Pat, who died in 2000, was a top man at his game and specialised in panel beating and spraying. He had 14 working there at one stage. We lived on James Street. There was a load of young children on the street at the time – the Currys, the Hallorans, the Nolans, the Joyces and the Malones. The kids would all be up in the yard playing in the evenings, those were nice times, nice memories.”

Customers and friends
Breege says that if she was ten years younger she would, ‘without a doubt’ still be in the pub. Although it was difficult when some of her customers who had become friends passed on –friends, she says, like ‘Gandhi’ (Christy Fitzpatrick) and ‘Ricardo’ (Richard Kelly) – “I will miss the craic and the fun and getting to know people.”
But there’s no hint of regret. “I’m thankful for the good times and memories, but it was the right time for me to move on.”