Barrtalk: Moville man makes more history (and the New York Times Top 50 list)

As a now-and-again reader of the New York Times, I have to say I was delighted to see how my hometown of Moville had made the ‘Newspaper of Record’ recently.

More specifically, publican Oran McGonagle made it into the NY Times' Best American Restaurant list 2025 for the sumptuous cuisine at his McGonagle’s pub, which opened outside Boston last year and has been gaining acclaim ever since.

Some awards are with a small ‘a’, but making the New York Times best list is definitely something to shout about.

Oran, who left Moville almost twenty years ago, is no stranger to publicity. He somehow managed to book Ed Sheeran for a once-in-a-lifetime gig at his popular Dorchester bar-restaurant for St Patrick’s Day.

Yes, THAT Ed Sheeran, the one with umpteen Grammys and tens of millions of record sales worldwide.

As you can imagine, that surprise gig caused quite a stir. But making it onto the Times’ culinary list might be even bigger; particularly given that no Irish bar has ever made the cut before.

McGonagle was as shocked as anyone to find out, having had no clue that any undercover food journos were casing his joint.

Looks like his decision to put his faith in Donegal Town culinary maestro Aidan McGee as head chef was a very savvy move. The Americans are apparently lapping up his wholesome Sunday roast, as well as spice bags and traditional fish and chips.

Remarkably, McGonagle’s is one of only two restaurants in the State of Massachusetts to make the New York Times’ top 50 list, with food critic Julia Moskin hailing Chef McGee’s attention to detail, including his decision to bring “a proper Irish chip-cutting machine for the fish and chips”, as well as his crunchy croquettes of Irish cheese with a black truffle mayonnaise.

They serve great pints of Guinness too, I’m told.

I’ll have to pop over the pond one of these days to check it out in person; that’s if I can afford the airfare for Her Indoors’ luggage!

Meanwhile, Oran can now add a mention in the Barrtalk column to his list of achievements; onwards and upwards for the Moville men.

Luggage charges on buses now! Give me a break!

As if it wasn’t bad enough that airlines were fleecing us for bringing luggage on the plane – on some journeys it costs almost as much to fly the suitcase to and from the destination as its human carrier.

Now, the buses are at it too, with “additional costs” for those of us who have the temerity to take a larger bag on board.

A friend of mine, who has headed for the south of sunny Spain in recent days, told me of the additional charges they were faced with when they went to book the Bus Eireann journey to Dublin Airport.

They were informed that it would cost an extra €5 per suitcase each way, in addition to the cost of their own ticket, which was already plenty.

They swiftly opted out of the booking altogether and plumped for a Donegal bus company instead, one which doesn’t charge for bags that have to go into the boot.

I’m not sure when these bus luggage charges were introduced – having not had the occasion to be trundling towards the airport laden down with bags of late – but I have to say I’m disgusted.

Passengers seem to be getting charged more and more for every little thing these days. How long before we start having to pay a wifi charge to ride the bus? Or how about €5 more for air conditioning and a window seat? Plus 50 cents every time you have the audacity to look out the window!

Seriously, though, this feels like the thin end of the wedge for me. Is it now only a matter of time until the bus companies fleece us all in the same way that the airlines have gotten away with for years?

Feels like it.

Taylor Swift can do no wrong (and that’s official)

And finally this week, it seems our Taylor can do no wrong.

Fresh from the release of her brilliant new album ‘Life of a Showgirl’ – which I have bought on vinyl, one of four-million-plus units sold in the first week alone – Swift has announced a new documentary series focusing on her record-breaking Eras Tour.

The six-parter will start on Disney+ on December 12 next, which is just 52 days away [not that I’m desperate enough to be counting already].

The soon-to-be-36-year-old star confirmed the news in a post to her Instagram account last week, along with confirmation of a new concert film.

Her music sounds great – it’s superbly produced always – and it certainly helps that she looks the part on camera too. So, it’s a win-win for fans, including this latter-day convert.

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Coincidentally, I only realised last week that I happened to visit Taylor’s hometown of West Reading, Pennsylvania during my one and only visit to the States as a teenager back in the summer of 1993.

Our careers have been on slightly different trajectories ever since then!

In fact, I think I’d have to work as a journo for around the next 46,000 years [without spending a single cent] to match Swift’s fortune of $1.7 billion.