Syd Harkins’ Pub is across the street from my flat on
Rose Inn Street in Kilkenny. That’s not why I go there; that's just a convenient fact.
One's "local" is not the pub nearest to one's home, but the pub that one visits most frequently.
Nor is one's local a permanent institution; I've recently visited Syd's for the first time in a couple of years.
— Summer 2006
Syd's is what the Irish call my "local." It just happens
to be more local than most.
I went to Syd’s my third night in town, with J_ and M_. That was my first night at Lautrec’s Brasserie,
a restaurant on Kieran Street. The three of us worked
together for a while there.
They’re both a couple of my best friends* in town. Most
of my other friends here, too, tend to go to Syd’s — for
lack of a better way of putting it. It’s a common point
of reconnoitering, which may include a game of
pool and
for most of us includes at least a couple of pints of
beer.