Johnny Joe'sMcCollam's Bar

McCollam's Bar in Cushendall, known locally as Johnny Joe's, occupies a building whose origins go back to the early nineteenth century, when it operated as a coaching inn and public house on what was then the coast road. John and Margaret Barry held the licence in 1856; their niece Annie, known as Nancy, married Joseph McCollam of Armoy, and the couple took over the business soon after. Joseph died in 1908 and Nancy Joe ran the pub as a widow before passing it to their son John, whose nickname gave the bar its local name. The licence has stayed within the same family for five generations since, and the current owner, Joe Blayney, is a nephew of a later Joe McCollam who ran the bar in the twentieth century. The interior keeps turf fires and small connecting rooms rather than screens or gaming machines, and it hosts regular traditional Irish music sessions, drawing musicians from across the Glens of Antrim.