Pub buzzing with excitement after tear-jerking £700 Christmas advert goes viral
When Charlie’s Bar opened its doors in 1944 we were still at war, Winston Churchill was Prime Minister, and Guinness was 6d a bottle.
A lot has changed since then – not least the price of a bottle of stout. But a few hours in the Co Fermanagh pub, that is capturing hearts with its heart-warming Christmas ad, proves the most important stuff is the same.
Charlie’s Bar, in Enniskillen, produced its ad on a £700 budget. It shows an elderly man visiting a loved-one’s grave, before a lonely walk through the town.
The clincher comes when he takes his seat by the fire in Charlie’s Bar, and is joined by an adorable dog and its young owners, who clink glasses of hot whiskey with his pint.
The ad ends with the WB Yeats quote: “There are no strangers here, only friends you haven’t yet met.”
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Gerard Burns pictured in Charlie’s Bar in Enniskillen. (Photopress Belfast)John Lewis, famous for its own tear-jerking Christmas ads, even posted, “We’re not crying, you are”, and sent a huge bag of gifts to the pub.
Una Burns, pub manager, video mastermind and granddaughter of Charlie, namesake of the bar, says: “We’re absolutely blown away by all of it.”
Within minutes of walking through the doors of the pub this week, 32-year-old Una has given me a huge hug. She’s buzzing with excitement at the response to the ad, and her hug is as warm as the atmosphere.
The bar is bedecked with twinkling lights for the season, the fire is roaring, and groups of people sit together at pretty tables and cosy snugs. Regulars say hello and shake my hand, sharing in the excitement round their local.
Ivor Owens, 68, comes as much for the craic as the great pints of Guinness. He says: “There’ll always be a friendly face and someone to talk to.”
Raymond Breen is also happy to sing the praises of all at Charlie’s Bar.
Charlie’s Bar on Church Street in Enniskillen (Photopress Belfast)He says: “I’ve been coming here more than 50 years. I always come in for a coffee and the company, and they’re that nice they’ll often not even charge me for it. It’s a great pub, and it does so well because at the heart of it is such a kind family.”
Una, who started collecting glasses at the bar when she was 15, gave up her job as a teacher in 2021 to take a leading role in the family business.
Her dad Gerard Burns had held the reins since 1982, when he took over from his own father, Charlie.
At 72, Gerard and his wife Teresa still own the bar and he does his bit, lifting kegs, serving pints and keeping the punters company.
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Gerard, who along with eight siblings grew up in the family home above the pub, says: “I started at 11, doing the bottles. I love it. I was reared to do it.”
But as rosy as things are now –visitors from across Ireland, the UK and further afield popping in this week – things have not always been easy.
Originally known as the White Star, it was almost destroyed in a bomb attack in 1973, at the height of the Troubles. Thanks to the quick actions of a local baker and his mother, Charlie and his family got out in time and nobody lost their lives.
The pub was rebuilt, reopening in 1976, and 20 years later, with Gerard at the helm, it was renamed Charlie’s Bar, in a nod to the man who started it all. Gerard says: “He didn’t like it.
“He was a modest man, but he came round in the end.”
Charlie died in 2001, while his wife Bea died last year, aged 99. Gerard says: “She didn’t work in the bar. She had nine children to look after, but she’d come in for a cup of tea.”
On my visit, I am offered many cups of tea. With a big warm cuppa in hand (I’m driving) I feel like part of the family, cosied up by the fire with the stars of the advert.
The dog, Missy, now an A-lister, potters about in a Christmas jumper, inviting pets and strokes from visitors.
Martin McManus, 74, who plays the elderly gent, laughs as he watches her, and reflects on the impact of the ad.
He says: “The message of it resonates with a lot of us. I’m out a lot, and have plenty of company. But the pandemic gave me a taste of it.” Joining us are Meagan Daley, 28, and Alex Middlemas, 32, the couple in the advert, and Aoife Teague, the PR who made it. The craic is great.
Meagan, whose grandad was a regular, says: “When I come in with Alex, I know I’ll not see him till we’re leaving. You either bump into someone you haven’t seen for ages, or get talking to people and make a new best friend.”
The bar has an old-man pub feel, for sure, but with regular events, from jive lessons to wreath-making, sport shown on 16 screens and live music, Charlie’s Bar feels youthful too.
Una says: “There’s an expression my family talks of, which is that you have to earn your seat in the bar.
“The older customers have the comfy seats up at the front near the door and the fire, and the younger ones are up at the back where the music is at the weekends.
“Over time, you work your way to the front of the bar, and you’ll get your seat eventually... where your daddy sat before you.”
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