I dropped in to Branas to listen to the music.  I planned to just sit at the bar with a glass of wine and sit for an hour or so, and then go home, since I am literally around the corner.  It turns out that Branas is a local bar and the locals are particularly friendly.  I learned that I lived in “The Creek" and that therefore I too was a local, that Wicklow pub was once called Stamps pub, and that it too was a local hang out. I also learned that no business was lost to Mahoney’s which opened a week ago now after a year of extensive and very noisy work. 

Among the people I met last night at Branas were three smart, friendly women who enjoyed a drink at the bar for the entertainment.  Two of them had gone to Mahoney’s to try it out, and came scurrying back to Branas to enjoy the rest of the evening in the cozy atmosphere of the local hang out.  The other was a very entertaining Irish rogue who’s lived in "The Creek" for 12 years and moved here for the lifestyle and the pub.  Her husband tired long before she did, bid her goodnight and went home.

As for more local color Jack pulled up to the bar.  Jack is a regular patron of Branas and an artist who makes mobiles out of molded plastics, three of which hang in Branas.  He’s been a client for many years and brings his own glass which he sets on the bar where it is filled, although never more than twice in one evening.  Last night, Jack came, pulled out his glass, set it on the counter, drank his drink and then went home.