Craic consultants

You may not realize it, but any town can become a hub of Irish culture. Or at least that’s what the Irish Pub Company would have you believe. The Dublin-based business has been packaging and selling “authentic” Irish bars in cities around the world since 1991, providing everything from the iron cross above the bar and Gaelic road signs on the walls to the authentic Irish employees pouring your Guinness and slicing your corned beef. The company’s off-the-shelf Irish charm comes in five basic pub styles: the Country Cottage, Gaelic, Traditional Pub Shop, Brewery, and Victorian Dublin. It even provides a system of simple steps a pub can take to attain “Irishness,” especially through stylized decor, which it calls “bric-a-brac.” Decider set out to measure how Madison’s Irish craic (that’s Gaelic for communal fun) measures up to the Irish Pub Company’s ideal.

Brocach
Bric-a-brac: With its rough plaster walls, timber beams, and large open fireplace, Brocach fuses the Country Cottage with the Brewery style. Gaelic phrases (presumably authentic, but who knows?) adorn the walls, along with signs for Irish drinks, a metal cross, and the very un-Irish Badger Candy Kitchen menu featuring a selection of canned soup—and not even potato-leek soup at that.
Food and drink: High scores here, with an all-day Irish breakfast, shepherd’s pie, ploughman’s lunch, Guinness Irish stew, and indeterminately British or Irish fish and chips. A large selection of whiskey and, of course, Guinness and Harp on tap would get the Irish Pub Company’s stamp of approval. Extra points for the authentic Irishman at the host stand.
Music: Live music nearly every night, most of it Irish, played by visibly non-Irish Wisconsin residents.
Craic score: High for its food, music, and decor.

Erin’s Snug Irish Pub
Bric-a-brac: Seemingly unable to choose among the different styles, Erin’s Snug aims for every Irish pub experience in one—what the Irish Pub Company could call “Victorian Gaelic Country Brewery Pub.” Note the oh-so-Irish Gaelic phrases (mercifully translated here), roaring fireplace, “Irish” (or maybe your grandma’s) knickknacks, beer signs, wooden barrels, woodwork, and authentic Irish harp.
Food and drink: Ireland by way of TGI Friday’s. Spinach and artichoke dip becomes Irish with the addition of “Eire” to the name—same with the Irish potato skins (what says Ireland more than bacon bits and salsa?) and the Leprechaun Pot-o’-Gold, otherwise known as Wisconsin bar food: onion rings, jalapeño poppers, fried curds, and fries.
Music: The country-ish Troye Shanks Duo from central Wisconsin appears regularly. Not a bit of “Danny Boy” in sight.
Craic score: Low. Being every kind of faux Irish to everyone is not authentically Irish, Erin.

Claddagh Irish Pub
Bric-a-brac: A national chain owned by an authentic Irishman, Claddagh attains an upscale, stained-glass Victorian Dublin pub-style feel with its fireplace (apparently a pub staple no matter the style), ornately carved bar, and Irish beer signs.
Food and drink: Chain-style, something-for-everyone, incongruous Irish-American diner food like smoked salmon boxty (Irish hash browns), corned beef and coleslaw, and a meatloaf melt with Guinness barbecue sauce. Irish beers on tap, but seemingly no Irish people to pour it.
Music: Nothing says Irish like the Boss singing “Born In The USA” over the house speakers.
Craic score: Low. Looking “Irish” is only part of the Irish Pub Company package.

Shamrock Bar
Bric-a-brac: No roaring fire, no Gaelic phrases, no brewery detritus. Beer signs do hang on the walls—they just happen to be of the light-up, neon variety. The outside and inside is green, however, which must be worth something.
Food and drink: American bar food and drink. No lame attempts at Irish-ing it up here.
Music: Loud and jukebox-originated—nary a Chieftains tune in sight.
Craic score: High. Shamrock doesn’t need the Irish Pub Company to tell it what fun is.