Generally, if you order a jar you will get a pint of beer of some sort. If you order a jar of whiskey you're libal to get some very weird looks! That's rock star type behaviour, that is.

I don't know about Ireland but in England, a bucket of beer was just any container you used to get "carry out"s from the pub in. Often off licenses ( liquor stores ) would close at the same time normal shops did and the only place to get a beer was at the local. Some pubs, NOT all (and generally only for people the landlord knew well) would sell beer to take away, but to keep the police off their backs, the punter ( customer ) would have to provide their own vessel. This is not something a middle class family would have done.

This sort of thing stopped when I was quite young ( about 7 or 8 ) but I can clearly remember it.

In a good bar ( and I stress the good ) if you ask for a spirit ( whiskey, vodka, gin etc.) you should get it without ice. I believe in the U.S.A. ( I could be wrong about this I have never been there ) you should ask for it " straight up " if you don't want ice. Other than that you should specify that you want ice / slice of lemon / olives etc. Spirits are sold in 30ml shots ( I'm not sure how large the shots or 'shorts' are in the Republic of Ireland )

As for odd drinks that are peculiar to the local area, I'm afraid you'll have to find a native guide. But I tend to find that if you simply ask the bar staff ( unless you're in a bar in the west end of London, where the bar staff neither know nor care, except for a very few exceptions ) they will tell you all you need to know.

In Ireland and the UK, 'beer' or 'bitter' is a chestnut coloured ale, 'lager' is more like what Americans drink ( Budweiser and Michelob are classed as lagers here ),'stout' is Guiness or Mackesons ( black beer ), 'porter' is somewhere between stout and bitter and all of the above can be VERY STRONG, so watch yourself. They can all be bought over the bar either in a bottle ( usually 330mls here ) or "on tap" ( poured by the pint or half pint ). Prices vary ENORMOUSLY from area to area. So ASK before you spend your fare home by mistake!

A popular way to drink across the British Isles, is to order a pint of beer ( whatever variation of that theme that you prefer, bitter, stout, lager etc ) and a "chaser". This often a shot of whiskey but it purely depends on your own preference. The idea is to alternate between the short and the beer. I quite like it but some people hate it.

Depending on the establishment you're in depends on what kind of wine you can expect. Generally you have a better chance of a half decent wine if (a) they sell meals in the bar and (b) they list the wines on the food menu. It's generally cheaper to buy a bottle than by the glass.

Now, is that of any use to you?

TTFN M'Lady P.