How can opening a pub help you resist the temptation of a drink? Meet the Armagh Pioneers to find your answer. Take a comfortable seat and enjoy the sensation of the glass in one hand and cigarette in the other. With such good conversation and lively music do you notice anything missing? This bar with a difference gives people everything they love about the pub without the temptation of alcohol. Join its founder, Father Rice, to find out why it is pulling such large crowds and hear what the punters think.

In 1829 Rev. John Edgar declared his opinions on temperance in the Belfast Telegraph after drenching the streets of Belfast with his stock of whiskey. His Ulster Temperance Movement inspired similar societies across England including temperance bars in Lancashire during the late 19th century. The Pioneer Total Abstinence Association of the Sacred Heart was set up in Ireland by Fr. Cullen in 1898. Their mission is “to address the problems in society caused by excess alcohol consumption”. Members abide by three rules; to wear the pin (seen in this film), say the pioneer prayer twice a day and make the ‘heroic sacrifice’ to abstain from alcohol. This material is Courtesy of the UTV Archive.

Leslie Dawes - Presenter

Father Seamus Rice - Interviewee

• Britain on Film
• UTV Ireland
• ITV
• Pioneer Association