Commercial’s plucky barmaid

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Jack Duggan’s Irish Pub, formerly the Commercial Hotel, Bathurst. Photo: Tripadvisor.com

PLUCKY BARMAID
When Jack Quigley, a former noted jockey, and now licensee of the Commercial Hotel, Bathurst, was attacked by a man with great ferocity, a barmaid, Mary McNamara, picked up a mallet, used to open barrels of beer, and knocked him into a heap on the floor. Quigley also fell unconscious. He received ugly scalp wounds. The girl’s blows ripped open the man’s head, and after treatment, he was arrested. The girl’s prompt intervention probably saved Quigley’s life.
– Dungog Chronicle (NSW ) Tuesday 1 May 1928
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 The Commercial Hotel, Bathurst

The former Commercial Hotel has been trading as a pub in its current building on George Street, Bathurst since 1849 – That’s 20 years after Jack Duggan (The Wild Colonial Boy) broke out of Bathurst Gaol and became a bushranger and just a few years before the Bathurst gold rush. Originally named The Daniel O’Connell Inn, a local publican and cooper, William Fowler was the first owner. The watering hole’s name was changed to The Commercial Hotel in 1859. During the 1980s, Terry, the son of the English Channel swimmer Des Renford, and his family ran the pub as a successful live music venue. The name changed to Jack Duggan’s Irish Pub in 2008.

More: jackduggans.com.au



Categories: Barmaids, Publicans

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