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Brennan's Criterion Bar

'End of an era': Well-known Donegal pub owner Nan Brennan has passed away

The pub’s famous sisters have garnered national and international attention over the years.

Nan Brennan 2 Nan Brennan, on the left, sits next to her sister Patricia during a Guinness advert. Guinness / YouTube Guinness / YouTube / YouTube

NAN BRENNAN, ONE of two elderly sisters who ran the famous Brennan’s Criterion Bar in Bundoran, Co Donegal, has passed away.

She died at her home yesterday surrounded by her family, according to the Donegal Daily.

The pub, which first opened on St Patrick’s Day in 1900, has drawn attention for its quaint, homely design and its ban on televisions, music, swearing and for its lack of WiFi.

Nan and her sister Patricia (who’s in her late 70s) are the grandchildren of the original owners, and have a no-nonsense approach to running their lovely bar.

For example, when asked what they do when people ask them to show sports on a TV, the sisters told The Boston Globe:

We tell them they can go watch the match or the race someplace else and then come back here and talk about it.

They also featured in a Guinness advert earlier this year.

GuinnessEurope / YouTube

People have paid tribute to the pub owner and prominent local figure on Twitter and in local media outlets.

https://www.facebook.com/matt.britton1/posts/10155198363323197

The Donegal Daily reports that Nan Brennan is reposing at her residence on Bundoran’s main street from 11am until 5pm today.

The funeral mass for Nan will be held tomorrow at Church of Our Lady Star of the Sea at 12pm; afterwards she will be buried at Finner Cemetery.

Read: Brennan’s in Bundoran is one of the best old school pubs in the country

Read: 18 of the greatest Irish pubs that tourists (mostly) don’t know about

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