Their Newest Addition: An Exceptional Indoor Famine Museum
By Gráinne McCool
Freelance Writer and English Tutor
‘Friels’ is a 5th generation Bar and Restaurant in Swatragh Co. Derry, Northern Ireland.
Friels Bar and Restaurant has been in one family for five generations and is now owned by Dermot Friel. The site had various owners during the 1800s before being bought at public auction by John Edward Friel in September 1903.
Swatragh is a village and townland situated in the mid-Ulster district. The Knockoneil River flows through the village and various tourist attractions and historical sites are nearby. It’s a showcase of the true picturesque Ireland.
Friel’s added a motorhome park recently, so you can drive and stay now. There are also 3 Shepherd Huts and self-catering accomodations.
The city of Derry is just 45 mins drive away and Belfast just over an hour’s drive. Traveling to the village you will find typical Irish countryside with green fields, rivers, and other villages and towns. A scenic route always.
Nestled in the heart of Swatragh village is Friels 5th generation pub. With the attached restaurant you won’t go hungry, and you can enjoy a good range of delicious food, all cooked fresh. You have the choice to dine in their bright open space, or tuck away quietly in their snug. Wherever you choose to dine you will do so in comfort with a very warm Irish service. Friel’s staff clearly take pride in their work and welcome everyone with a smile and a courtesy that you only find in this wonderful island of ours.
Anyone who visits Ireland will know that the country beats loudest in the pubs, and you will certainly hear the beat of music in Friel’s bar on the weekend: and indeed during the week too. There is a ‘drop-in’ trad weekly session, so if you play, be sure to take your instrument along when you visit.
Myself and himself visited the restaurant on a Saturday evening quite recently. Ireland had just been beaten by France in the rugby. A few disappointed faces were in the vicinity, but the sorrow didn’t last long as the atmosphere in Friel’s warms the very cockles of your heart, regardless of sporting outcomes.
This was our first visit here and it certainly won’t be our last. Good hospitality and efficient staff always serve for good culinary experience. Having settled for a three-course meal, we were disappointed with nothing on the night. The food was fresh, well-presented, and very much home-made – oh those desserts!! Apple crumble with hot custard is quite a traditional, simple Irish dessert, and when it’s good, it’s real good; at Friel’s it’s real good!!
Following dinner we met Dermot, the owner. Dermot was taking us on a tour on the most recent addition to the business – Gorta: Swatragh’s Famine Story. Situated in the Friel homestead, adjacent to the bar/restaurant, this new visitor centre tells the story of Dr. Mooney and his wife Sarah, who ran a surgery and dispensary from this location in the mid-1800’s, and during the Great Hunger, An Gorta Mór, they set up a private soup kitchen to help the local community. In collaboration with esteemed historians like Ciarán Reilly from Maynooth University and local experts, the centre brings to life Mooneys’ unwavering commitment during one of Ireland’s most traumatic and challenging periods.
As we went up the steps to this quaint, but very contemporary museum/visitor’s centre, I knew we were about to embark on a special journey.
On entering, Dermot began to tell the story of his family living there and the history that he had uncovered since the discovery of an original famine pot in 1992, and a small window on the historic site during Covid lockdown. He explained to us the various rooms during his and his family’s upbringing. But we were in a time machine. A time machine that brought us right back to famine times and long before. With QR codes in each room we had a very clear audio telling us the story in sequence.
My favourite room in the visitor’s centre is certainly Dr Mooney’s dispensary. With desk, drugs cabinet and more, you really do step back in time. The audio tells us the history of the clinic and about the important role that Mooney played.
You can’t help but be transported back to the 19th century and admire this wonderful man. It really felt like we were in his very presence. With artefacts and photographs from the time, it makes the whole experience feel real. Dermot told us that a recent visitor actually recognised his great grandfather in the photo of the ‘7 arch bridge’ – also known as the ‘mouse trap bridge’.
Dermot left us alone at this stage to have the experience on our own. And a real historic experience it was. We learned about the doctor and all his important work alongside the famine, emigration and the impact all had on this Co. Derry village in years gone by. But as we descended the stairs to the kitchen, and learned how the soup kitchen operated and helped so many people, we couldn’t help but imagine what a special home this must have been for Dermot and his family to grow up in.
The original famine pot allowed us to contemplate life here long before the Friels took up residence. The poignancy of the sounds and the story of the pot made us stop in our very tracks.
With modern technology allowing us to step back in time, Gorta brought us on a real historic journey. We may have been in a very modern visitors centre, but we were experiencing a very important part of our history.
We did the Gorta tour after our dinner. Had we done it prior to eating, I really do think our dining experience would have been even more special. More special in that we would have eaten much slower, savoured every bite and every taste much more, and treasured the opportunity we had to enjoy fine food in a fine establishment without worry or fear of hunger.
Gorta is more than a visitor’s centre/museum, it is an experience that reminds us what our ancestors had to endure, and no matter how difficult our days might be, they are nothing in comparable to the past, the days of ‘Gorta Mór’.
We descended the steps of Gorta as more humble human beings. We were made to realise how fortunate we are and how wonderful it is to be from this island of Ireland – be it North or South. Gorta reminds us what our forefathers suffered and what strong people did. The Friel family have created an experience that will humble the proudest amongst us. And it will allow the travelling visitor to witness our most difficult of histories. Although the Gorta experience is very much Swatragh orientated, it will awaken an awareness in everyone who visits.
With the Great Hunger very much in our past, Friel’s Bar and Restaurant will ensure that no-one leaves the village of Swatragh hungry. Their menu will suit almost everyone’s tastebuds, and allow your palette to echo Dickens, ‘Please sir can I have some more’!!! And Gorta will give you an historic experience you won’t forget. It may even make you a better person.
Dermot Friel has something special here at Friel’s Bar & Restaurant, Motorhome Park and Famine Museum. With many attractions nearby to visit (including the Seamus Heaney Centre) and cities like Derry/Londonderry and Belfast, this village of Swatragh and Friel’s is the perfect place to stop off at when visiting the green isle of Ireland/N’Ireland.
Friel’s Bar & Restaurant 2-4 Kilrea Rd, Swatragh
BT46 5QF tel 044 028 7940 1206 www.friels.ie
To top it all off, Friels also won Food Pub of the Year 2024, and is a 3 time winner of Tourist Pub of the Year!
