Coming Soon: A Fremantle Family-Run Irish Pub Where You Can Ring a Bell for a Pint

When Mons O’Shea opens in early August, it will be unlike most Perth pubs. In what other WA watering hole could you browse a shelf of Irish pantry staples, before stepping into a private room to ring a bell and summon a pint, and then order a ham and cheese toastie on house-baked batch loaf?

The new family-run pub is opening on South Terrace in Fremantle, with Dublin-born, third-generation publican Simon Carthy and his wife Jo Carthy (an Aussie he met when she was backpacking through Ireland) at the helm. “My grandfather had a pub in Dublin, and then my dad had it, and then I took that over,” says Carthy. “That pub was in the family for 120 years.”

Mons O’Shea takes its name from Monsignor Sean O’Shea, a priest who lived on Rottnest Island and was known for his warmth and dry humour. “We just really liked his story,” says Carthy. “He was a hospitable man, and he was known for his quick wit.”

The Fremantle space pays homage to Ireland’s rural pubs of the past. “Having the shop at the front is actually quite traditional. It’s not something you see in cities anymore. It’s more down in the country.” The shopfront – divided from the pub by a salvaged bookcase from the now-closed Bodkin’s Bootery – will sell Irish merchandise and hard-to-find goods such as McLoughlin’s black and white pudding, Irish bacon and sausages, and house-made Guinness brown bread and batch loaf.

“In the 19th century, due to the temperance movement, pubs had to integrate a grocery business to compensate for the decline in alcohol sales,” says Carthy. “Most pubs in Ireland are family-run and back in the day, the wife would run the shop at the front and the father would run the pub at the back. Then when you get your newspaper, you’d have a drink, you’d have a chat and gossip, and then you’d be on your way. So that’s kind of what we’re trying to recreate.”

A snug – a small, semi-private room traditional to old Irish pubs – sits tucked inside, complete with a bell and a small hatch to order drinks discreetly. “While the history of a snug isn’t very positive, they are very traditional in an Irish pub,” says Carthy. The pub’s interiors are largely salvaged: 1960s church pews from Collie in the South West of WA, a fireplace from Bodkin’s, and an old drapery counter from a long-shuttered store in the city.

On tap there’ll be Guinness, Kilkenny and local brews such as Wedgetail Dark Lager. Guinness 0.0 – “so popular worldwide that they’ve had to build another brewery” – will also be poured alongside a small but thoughtful wine list spanning Australia and Europe.

In the kitchen, Jane Collins (formerly head chef at Petition Wine Bar) will serve Irish-accented fare ranging from scotch eggs, ham hock croquettes and “the famous Irish toastie” (a toasted ham and cheese sandwich made with Irish batch loaf, sharp cheddar and good ham) to more substantial dishes like Irish smokies, a traditional mix of smoked fish in a creamy cheese sauce, served with Guinness bread.

Mons O’Shea is scheduled to open Wednesday August 6 at 6 South Terrace, Fremantle.

@mons.osheafreo