Harry's Bar, Sligo

Hi Craicers, I'll do a mini blog first before I talk about Harry's Bar.
We are on day 7 of our big tour of the west coast of Ireland. Having a ball so far, today is the first rainy day, now 940pm and the evening is nice and soft, warm, rain has stopped, thank god!
We started off as did some other Craicers at the bluegrass sessions at Dunfanaghy. 4 days, 3 late nights, some great music & craic. We counted 40+ vans in the town, & the ATM ran out of money on the Sunday! Music all day, Friday to Sunday in every pub, great weekend, no tickets required. Needed a recharge on Monday so went to Sleepy hollows campsite, Gweedore. Excellent, adult only, pet friendly, 25 euros including EHU, free showers, 200m to Leo's tavern, great walk along the river. We had the canopy & everything out, BBQ. Few midgies but the citronella candles did the job. If going you need to use the green toilet fluid as their system can't take chemicals. The owner gave us some fluid for free. Really nice couple, very helpful. We had a massive bag of laundry which the owners wife washed, tumble dried, folded and gave back for only 10 euros, saved a lot of hassle.
Next day lovely weather so on to Narin, portnoo, great spot, parked nose in beside a bench, sat out and played guitar to some other motorhomers. Pub nearby, good wee supermarket up towards Portnoo, 10 min dander. Plenty off bins and recycling area. Great sunset over the bay, like a summers evening on the continent. Next day not so good, constant drizzle but warm. Not to worry, filled up with water, didn't need to empty the toilet as the lovely clean public toilets aren't locked in the evening. Decided to make a bit of a drive to Rosses point, as we always do to stay outside Harry's Bar, as the restaurant is one of our favourites. Arrived, dog walked, got the best parking spot, 20 steps from the bar, got changed, mouth watering thinking about the seafood menu or steak. Next thing the owner comes knocking, says you are welcome, are you here for the night, etc, thinking he was going to say you need to get in for food soon. "Of course" says I having driven for nearly 2 hours including a supermarket stop, "Can't wait" he then says you have to move on as there is a big group of people dining tonight and there could be complaints about the van and the Garda would move us on. Why don't you go use the caravan site? whaaaaaaaaaaat???? Not willing to let us stay despite telling him it was why we went out of our way to come here. Sorry he said, I told him we would not be dining tonight or ever again,and left. Ended up in the Beach Bar, Aughris, Templeboy. Just had lovely food, slow cooked,lamb and pork belly with scallops, loads of fresh champ and veggies, belly buster for about 20 euros each. The place has been renovated since last year, 5 star toilets and showers, like a top hotel in a new extension so although it was 20 euros, had to go for it as it was then 745pm. Lovely place beside a beach, staff very nice and friendly and the restaurant was buzzing. Will keep you updated on our travels if you are interested
John Emily & Bizz, woof (never had so much exercise)

The Bar owner said we could come back some other time but he has put me off now
JFlan

Have to agree, it's either anytime or no time, you can't pick and chose when some people are welcome or not depending on other customers

Great read keep it coming John.

why not post them here & get them added to the app.

Hi mick we were asked to move on by the big man who runs the bar, not sure of his name
As stated in my previous post, attached, full post in the motorhome friendly pubs section


JFlan

JFlan
[/quote]
ye i read that ok thats why i contacted henrys maybe the person that asked you to move acted on his own behalf without saying anything to the owner but the owner assured me that he is happy to allow motorhomes to park over night and is delighted with the custom
[/quote]

Does that mean that the owner of the bar never asked anyone to move and was never aware of anyone ever being asked to move? Or is it the case now that with all that being in the past that he is happy for motorhomes to stay again?
If it could be answered in that way that would clear the muddy water.

ye i read that ok thats why i contacted henrys maybe the person that asked you to move acted on his own behalf without saying anything to the owner but the owner assured me that he is happy to allow motorhomes to park over night and is delighted with the custom
[/quote]

Does that mean that the owner of the bar never asked anyone to move and was never aware of anyone ever being asked to move? Or is it the case now that with all that being in the past that he is happy for motorhomes to stay again?
If it could be answered in that way that would clear the muddy water.
[/quote]

We did not misunderstand what was said to us and it was the owner . We have had many a great night here especially the music nights when John has sang into the wee small hours .
As we had drove for nearly two hours and was just about to go in for a meal which we had been looking forward to all day we personally would not take a chance again incase they were expecting a big crowd and be told we couldn't park overnight .

Are ye talking about the same place? Henrys or Harrys ?

Is it possible that this explains the confusion ?

https://www.google.ie/maps/pla…-8.5568389

https://www.google.ie/maps/pla…d-8.522595

********APOLOGIES********

I must humbly apologise for my mistake in reading the original post and mistakenly reading Henry's instead of Harry's as what flans van meant! i was referring to Henry's bar not Harry's and have had to phone the owner of Henry's explaining my dyslexic moment so alls well and apolagies again to all on here and specially Flans Van for the mistake.

I think that we can all now presume that Harry's bar in Sligo is no longer Motorhome friendly

In my opinion he either accepts Motorhomes or he does not,how can a Motorhomer go there for the night with the understanding that they might be allowed to stay or they might not.
Motorhomers deserve more respect than this and there are establishments that welcome our custom.

Rosses point / Strandhill sites are run by Sligo tourism and parking around the harbour would restrict access to the sailing club and swimming activities carried out by local people

Malcolm's explanation sums it up very well and makes complete sense. We cannot expect a rate paying business to provide a free service for us, OK for a few MH's who spend a few euro on his premises but not an open invite to all. Maybe 3 or 4 dedicated bays for MH's on his premises would solve the issue.
There is an opportunity for an Aire, either under public or private control at Rosss point. We've only went once and stayed on the site which is expensive when we do not need the facilities.

On the issue of inappropriate behaviour by MH owners as JoeO'S has stated above, that indeed is a big issue.
We are being tarnished by the few who believe they have the right to do as they please and end up destroying it for the masses that behave correctly.
Is it for us to educate them?.... probably get an earful if we tried?

I did tell one owner in a well used car park by motorhomes, who had his awning and chairs out and many many cars trying to park in a very full venue while he sat there taking up more than 2 spaces laughing at them. I was wasting my time by even trying to reason with such a moron.
Maybe a flyer with accepted/unacceptable practices laid out that we can slip under their wipers to attempt to get our point over?.......unfortunately I have a feeling that we may have to gather them off the street when they leave.

It's a problem that isn't going to be easy to solve, we've already seen action by councils to prevent us stopping, hard to argue with them when we have these sort of inconsiderate people in our midsts.

gobshite.theres always one.

forum/xt.php?p=lexicon_show&post_id=1

I had great intentions of asking the guy in Westport if the Council had been onto him about the awning etc. and did a couple of walk-bys having summoned up the courage but he was on a phone for ages.
After watching the football match on TV, I'd lost my enthusiasm and Chickened Out of challenging his parking style.

A flyer or info on the correct use of Aire/Public parking of MHs seems like a brilliant way of making the point, without confrontation.

OOPS! a casualty from the server move - should be there now


Irish Aire Guide

Hi Ally
The page is excellent on the proper behaviour for motorhomers.Just one to add to it.Make sure the grey water valve is closed at all times. It does not look good to the general public to see water coming from the underside of the M/H as they do not know that it's just water!!