The occupying forces of the Roman army established the first places that sold food and wine to travellers. These were succeeded in later centuries first by alehouses, and then by roadside inns that catered for those undertaking long journeys for reasons of business or Christian pilgrimage. The era of horse-drawn coach travel made the inns altogether more splendid, and then there were the Victorian gin palaces, boozers that resembled nothing so much as classical temples.

Nowadays, many bemoan the fate of the town and city pubs, given over as they largely have been to MTV and big-screen sports broadcasts. Out in the country towns and villages, there are unmolested traditional pubs, where cloudy ales and ciders are hand-pumped, the home cooking is good, and nobody has ever heard of an Irish theme night.