Rip Van Winkle

The Irish diaspora in the Bluegrass has lost one of its foundation stones with the death last Sunday of Roger ("Roddy") O'Byrne, who presided for many years at McCarthy's Bar in downtown Lexington. O'Byrne, together with co-proprietor Peter Kiely, made their bar an institution not just for local horsemen but for the international bloodstock community. During an era when phoney "themed" bars round the world sought to exploit the national tradition of good craic, O'Byrne created a little piece of home for those compatriots of his own generation who served...