Sir, – In writing on the decline of the rural pub, Kathy McLoughlin concludes: “When the last pub closes, the loss is not measured in pints – it is measured in loneliness” (Letters, December 2nd). What must not be forgotten however, is that the rural pub was generally a man’s pub.
For far too long, wives and mothers endured the loneliness as husbands shirked family responsibilities by leaving for the pub, often not returning until late at night.
It is not by chance that modern living has begun the switch from the rural pub to the local community centre as the meeting place for socialising and community integration, leaving it to Irish drama and literature to portray this once showpiece of Irish country life for the generations ahead. – Yours, etc,
KEVIN McLOUGHLIN,
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Ballina,
Co Mayo.
