***Please Note: All TX times subject to change – Final Christmas schedules will be issued on Tuesday 2 December***
Patrick Duffy is famous the world over as Bobby Ewing from Dallas. A third generation Irishman, he grew up in his parents’ bar in Montana and currently owns his own bar in Hollywood. Always fascinated by the communities which develop around their local pub, Patrick has decided to return to Ireland to see for himself how Irish pubs have evolved and changed, as he journeys through his beloved country on his way home.
Along with his partner, actress Linda Purl (Happy Days, Matlock, The Office), Patrick travels through Ireland visiting pubs and places to get a sense of how Ireland is changing. He first came here 40 years ago to scout locations for a movie. Now, he has returned to document the changes in Ireland by exploring how our pub culture has evolved.
At the age of 76, Patrick is in a reflective mood. He recently traced his family history back to Kilmovee in Mayo where his grandfather, also Patrick Duffy, left Ireland to start a new life for himself in Montana. There, Patrick’s parents ran the Owl Bar where Patrick grew up. His earliest memories involve doing his homework at the bar where the regular customers became like an extended family. Now, he runs a bar in Hollywood with his son where he has tried to recreate a sense of community.
Community, bars and the changing nature of these sacred watering holes are what has led Patrick to his latest project. He has returned to Ireland to explore our pub culture and track the changes the pub has undergone in Ireland while looking at how the country itself has changed. Throughout Duffy’s Pub, Patrick visits many Duffy’s Pubs in Dublin, Galway, Donegal and Mayo. But, it’s not just his namesake bars he is interested in, he steps into legendary boozers and others which take some trouble to find. His trip brings him to the Hi-B in Cork, Jim O The Mills in Tipperary, The Flowing Tide in Dublin, and many more. Along the way he and Linda meet TR Dallas to reminisce about JR, they drop in on The Happy Pear, meet poet Thomas McCarthy and historian Donal Fallon, and Patrick returns to Inis Mór where he scouted movie locations 40 years ago.
His journey ends in his ancestral home of Kilmovee where he meets with extended family. Over a pint in the family pub, Patrick remembers his grandfather and visits the graves of his Irish family where he scatters some of his father’s ashes, bringing him back home and providing a fitting and emotional finale to his trip.
Duffy’s Pub is a fascinating trip through our present, from the perspective of one of our most famous diaspora, reflecting on our past through rose tinted pint glasses.