The two-minute video is an unashamed tear-jerker: an elderly man walks from his house to a cemetery where he lays a bouquet on a grave, his face a picture of loss. He makes his way into town, raising his cap to passersby who blank him.
He shuffles into a pub and sits alone by a fire. A young couple’s dog wanders over and jumps onto his bench, giving some company. Then, to the soaring soundtrack of Birdy’s People Help the People, the couple join the man at his table, shake hands, clink glasses and do that thing that makes us human – they chat.
The video ends with a famous quote often attributed to William Butler Yeats: there are no strangers here, only friends you haven’t yet met.
It is a Christmas advert for a Northern Ireland pub that went viral last month, prompting a surge in customers and earning a salute from the master of the genre, John Lewis: “We’re not crying, you are,” the department store posted, using a tearful emoji.
The ad, made for just £700, has turned Charlie’s Bar in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, into a symbol of action against loneliness. The honour is earned. The pub will open its doors on Monday – as it has done every Christmas Day for about 20 years – to welcome anyone who may need some company.
“We’ve always opened on Christmas Day,” said Una Burns, the manager and daughter of the owner, Gerry Burns. “My dad says if we don’t open some people would have no place else to go and no one to talk to. Christmas can be tainted with loneliness. One year he brought a customer home.”
Charlie’s Bar is named after Gerry’s father, Charlie, who opened it on Church Street in the market town in 1944, serving neighbours, farmers, US troops and anyone who fancied a drink in this corner of Northern Ireland.
It has now become synonymous with efforts to combat a phenomenon largely hidden until the pandemic highlighted the mental health toll of loneliness and isolation, especially among older people. Almost 80,000 people over 65 live alone in Northern Ireland and a fifth of those over 55 experience high levels of loneliness, according to the charity Age NI.
Not everyone likes pubs, and no one claims they are a panacea, but regulars at Charlie’s Bar laud the fact that here you can find peace and privacy in an alcove, or craic and banter in a more public spot.
“It’s always been a welcoming bar. It’s an easy welcome, genuine,” said Colm McCauley, 70, a retired accountant who has been a regular for 15 years. McCauley was perched at the bar nursing two lagers – one colder than the other so he could mix to his preferred temperature. “It’s not an old person’s bar or a young person’s bar, it’s an everyone bar.”
The clientele indeed spanned generations, some on their own, others in pairs or groups. A log fire crackled, dogs snoozed and TVs showed football and horse racing on low volume.
People can be left to their own thoughts but the pub encourages conviviality, said Burns. “Since my granddad’s time it’s been a traditional Irish pub. We want to hold on to that. We don’t do food – once you do that it’s more like a restaurant.”
Loneliness was an obvious theme for the ad, she said. “Christmas can be a really tough time for people, especially if they have experienced grief. You can be lonely even in a crowded space.”
Aoife Teague, a local 23-year-old content creator, filmed the video on her phone. Martin McManus, a 73-year-old retired decorator and local drama group veteran, played the pensioner. Meagan Daley and her fiancé, Alex Middlemass, played the couple who befriend him, along with their terrier, Missy.
The response has been electric – an influx of visitors to the bar, including TV crews, messages from around the world, and increased visibility and funding for groups that tackle isolation. “Their message was simple and demonstrates how small gestures can touch people’s hearts,” said Siobhan Casey, Age NI’s marketing and business development director. “Every year we ask people to look out for their older family, friends and neighbours, particularly during winter. An extra meal, a trip to the shops, de-icing driveways, taking out bins, or a quick chat can make a huge difference.”
Allison Forbes, of South West Age Partnership, credited Charlie’s Bar with driving donations and creating a community hub to allay loneliness and its stigma. “As you age your world can get small. Your friends die, children leave. It doesn’t matter whether you’re having a cup of tea or a pint, a pub allows you to say, ‘I’m open to chat’.”
