John B Keane 37 William Street, Listowel, County Kerry V31 RC03

"Great pub, good craic and top class for a sing song"

"Great pint of Guinness here - always good craic here"

"John B Keane's Bar is a brilliant pub located off of William St in Listowel! The staff are very friendly and attentive. The proprietor Billy Keane is usually around the premises. He regularly stops by tables for a chat or he could be chatting away while pulling pints at the bar! The layout of the bar is based around one room however, upon my recent visit I noticed that there is a seated area outside at the rear of the premises. The pub is decorated with memorabilia from John B. Keane's writings, including promotional posters from plays/movies such as "Sive", "Durango", "The Field", etc. The bar also has a stove makes it lovely and cosey on a cold winter's night! There are no tv's to the best of my knowledge but this is a bar where people should come for conversation and not to watch tv. I believe there are certain night where the bar has sessions for storytelling, poetry, song singing and trad music, etc. You will need to find out the schedule for what is on! I remember being brought here in the late 90's by my mother to see the late John B Keane and a Seanchaí he had organised for the night. I remember the bar being full with people and it being a great night! From what I remember John B Keane was in great form! I highly recommend stopping by John B Keane's for a pint and chat with Billy!"

"We were blessed to hear his son talk about his father's history on our tour. Nice pub I'm sure to have a pint. You can feel the history."

"I had the fortune after the church service in St. Mary's Church in Listowel Co. Kerry on April 6th 2019 to bring my son J.R. Somers's Baptismal Party which started at the Listowel Arms for a seated brunch then into the Hotel bar where I hired a traditional Irish band to play for 3-4 hours to play. while we. sang and danced to then have my cousin. Tommy Horan arrange a scheme which made the day one of the best days. of my life! He tricked all my guests into thinking the bus was outside to take them back to Tralee where they were staying at a hotel (we traveled from Boston USA with both my family and my wife's family to Kerry to baptize my son as my father was originally from Listowel and his entire family still live in Ireland). Once everyone heard 'bus is hear' there. was a loud sigh. over the. crowd of about 50 or so people. Once everyone was outside Tommy had the musicians ready and off we went in proper Parade fashion down the Main Street through the center of Listowel singing all the way and stopping to put my son to sit atop the shoulders of the statue of John B. Keane! To my amazement a gentleman, who I later found out was my 2rd cousin - Billy Keane who is John B's son and now owns the pub which bears his father name - was standing at. the door with. the door wide. open - Welcoming all of the. Baptismal Party inside! Complete strangers were walking up to. my. son and. putting money onto his little lap and wishing him a happy and blessed future. I could not have scripted this in my wildest. of dreams and I have. the. video and pictures to prove it happened!! I look forward to the day I return with J.R. and tell him the story of how the door was open to welcome him in at. John B. Keane's on the day of his baptism! Slaín -Sean J. Somers"