Short Tales from High Stools

From the county bounds to the Blasket islands, West Kerry is a hot bed of storytelling and has long been so.

Go in for a pint in any of the many pubs and within minutes someone will be telling you a story. You may have to pay the price of a pint but you will get your money's worth.

Some say that the moment a person sits on one of the tall stools that line the bar in Kruger's pub in Dún Chaoin, they are somehow gifted with the ability to speak with authority on one chosen topic. You will often hear these seats referred to as seats of Knowledge.

Kruger's is a small pub perched on what we like to call the edge of Europe and boasts that it serves the most westerly pint in Ireland. It also boasts a selection of locals wander with ease between the Irish language and English, depending on the company.

A man ones told me that if you sit at the top of Mount Brandon you can see the whole of Kerry, but if you sit on a high stool in Krugers you will see the whole world.

This is a small collection of pint sized stories from those high stools. I can't vouch for their accuracy, but I guarantee that each one has a grain of truth in it, often artfully concealed inside.

Names have been changed and personalities shuffled to keep you guessing, but on a stormy night you could meet anyone of them in Kruger's of the Dún Chaoin.