John’s Irish ‘Bar-avan’
There’s something quite unique about Irish pubs and John always had a longing to become involved in the industry in some way.
With this in mind in September 2013 he set about recreating that elusive experience with ‘The Shebeen’ caravan/pub. John designed The Shebeen from scratch after buying a caravan for Electric Picnic and finding that he couldn’t sell it afterwards.
He initially came up with the idea to turn it into a traditional Irish pub as a team-building exercise with his staff in Clinical Cabinets. Together, his team worked to build something that started to gain a great deal of attention with customers visiting the Clinical Cabinets site.
By May last year, after four months of demolition and many hours of design work, John’s retired and exhausted 30-year-old caravan became a very close replica of a traditional old Irish bar. The interior woodwork is handcrafted in Irish oak which has been stained and distressed to recreate that vintage feel while antique pictures, mirrors and carefully-selected pub memorabilia adorn the walls which have been papered in traditional patterned wallpaper.
“Very early into this project we realised that The Shebeen was going to be something very special,” said John, “We’ve already received an order to ship one of our designs to America; this creation will be very similar to the original Shebeen except it will have a thatched roof, meaning it will really encapsulate that feeling of Irish tradition.
“My main aim is to get six to eight of them built next year and get them overseas, to Britain, America, Europe and the likes,” he said. “It’s a unique product so it should travel well.”
Have pub will travel: The Shebeen Irish caravan-bar.
