There it sits, lonely and the windows draped with cobwebs. The door knocker is green with oxided brass and the gargoyle on the roof is asleep and shivering in the cold night air. From inside come the sounds of a giant squid correcting its young and, of course, the eerie sound of the old pipe organ being played. The resident bats flutter wildly.

Outside the Cóiste Bodhar, gayily decorated with holly and mistletoe pulls up, the coachman descends, and in a deep voice says, "I've come for a drink! Open 'er up!"