Quiet Man Pub for Sale

Pat Cohan’s bar in Cong, Co. Mayo, where John Wayne and Victor McLaglen brawled and raised pints in John Ford’s The Quiet Man, was recently put up for sale. The asking price is €300,000, and auctioneer Vincent Walsh informed the Irish Independent that the majority of interest thus far is from overseas – the US and the UK in particular. The bar’s current owner is said to be in poor health and eager to sell.

Though it moonlighted as the local watering hole in Ford’s 1952 film, until 2008 the space was actually a small, family-run shop. It was purchased in 2004 and opened under new management as a pub in 2008.

One unnamed source explained that while many of the film’s devoted fans visit Pat Cohan’s, relatively few stay for a drink. “A lot of film fans who go into Pat Cohan’s don’t spend any money,” he said. “Tourists and fans of the movie often go in, take a few photos, maybe use the bathroom and then leave without buying a pint. And that just doesn’t pay the bills.”