Ma Kelly's

Ma Kelly runs a Shebeen in Limerick.

A Shebeen, if you don't know, is a house which is also a pub. The way Ma's works is like this. 

You pay to get in and it's not refundable. If you ask for your money back you get a doin'. 

You pay 30 euro if you're a light drinker and that gets you ten pints and some twiglets. There's a different package for the heavy drinker. You pay 50 euro at the door and this gets you 18 pints plus unfettered access to the fridge which is fully stocked with both cheese and pickles.

But Shebeen's are not legal even though there's actually no law against them as such. Since they're not pubs they're not covered by the "Intoxicating Liquors Act of 1968". 

However, at Limerick District Court yesterday, they did manage to dig up some old law or other and charge Ma's son Francis (pictured above at the Shebeen entrance) with running a Shebeen. (A charge he strenuously denies.)  But since they had to re-institute this old statute the only amount they could fine him in was in a currency that no longer exists. Punts. He was charged 50 punts which they converted using a computer into Euro. 61 Euro.

Young Francis was said to be so shocked by the sneakiness of this fine that he headed straight back to Ma's Shebeen for a couple of pints to calm his nerves. He's barred from every other pub in Limerick you see.

Only in Ireland.