“A Loss For The City”

at

Hi-B Bar on Oliver Plunkett Street, Cork; late publican Brian O’Donnell

Early this morning.

Brian O’Donnell, of the Hi-B Bar on Oliver Plunkett Street, Cork city, passed away.

On the pub’s Facebook page, the family wrote:

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of my father Brian O’Donnell at 12.30am Friday morning in the Mercy Hospital after a short illness. On behalf of the family we would like to thank the wonderful staff of both St Luke’s Home and the Mercy Hospital for the wonderful care that he received over the last number of years. Arrangements to follow. May he Rest In Peace.

RIP.

Cork’s Echo reports:

Lord Mayor John Sheehan described Mr O’Donnell’s passing as a loss to the city.

“He was iconic in Cork. He almost became a tourist attraction in himself. I remember bringing visitors over from America and we went for a drink in the bar. They were shocked when one took out their phone to check a restaurant reservation and they were brought to book and told to put it away.

“That was part of the charm. It wasn’t like a regular bar. It was a place where conversation was encouraged and he encouraged it in his own unique manner. It’s a loss for the city.”

Owner of Cork’s iconic Hi-B bar passes away (Irish Examiner)

‘He was a tourist attraction in himself’: Tributes pour in for Hi-B owner (Evening Echo)

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11 thoughts on ““A Loss For The City”

      1. Spaghetti Hoop

        Didn’t he get a scissors and cut some fella’s tie off for looking at him funny? That’s why I used to sit over at the window overlooking the street – the wrong look and ye were out.

  1. V

    He must have been a decent age

    A divil for coming and going and opening and closing to suit himself as well

    RIP Mr O’Donnell

    1. V

      Mobile phones weren’t invented when I drank there
      Although Mr O’Donnell did tell my father I was smoking
      and knocking around with fellas from de’ college

  2. Lilly

    He sounds like the Maureen (Stoneybatter’s infamous shopkeeper) of the pub trade. It doesn’t take much in the way of technology to get you thrown out of McCloskeys in Donnybrook either.

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