These images were shot on expired film on a point and shoot camera documenting an evening in an Irish pub in North London. The London Irish community is predominantly an ageing one which like all has been afflicted by the impact of the pandemic. While the pub is a place of leisure it is also takes on the form of a community centre. Each local occupies a liaison position. While these establishments have been closed members of the community have been without companionship or assistance on numerous fronts. For the plethora of elderly Irish bachelors in London this is their second home and an essential resource to their daily lives.

 

Since these images were taken this pub has come under new management and has been redesigned, with the interior replaced with gastropub fittings. Irrevocably displacing it from an Irish pub in all but name. With many other Irish pubs in London either following suit or being demolished for flats such photos are both a reminder of a pre covid world and the documentation of a community which is ultimately in decline.