Ballylooby. Birdhill. Cloughjordan. Dualla. Galbooly. Grangemockler. Killenaule. Ninemilehouse. Every county has their placename gems but I think Tipperary is premier. Moycarkay: who? what? when? where? why? But my favourite is Horse and Jockey, sounding concurrently utilitarian and comical. Etymology, who? What? When?….

I assume everyone knows of Horse and Jockey as a place to stop because it’s the metaphorical half-way point on the drive from Dublin to Cork. But that’s probably because for many years my parents used stop there for a rest and a bite on their regular trips up and down the M7 and M8. 

‘A village of six houses’ was how it was described in Basset’s County Directory of 1889. It hasn’t changed much. Back then, it was on the Southern Railway line. Now it’s just off Ireland’s most travelled motorway. It’s a cluster of garage, petrol station/shop and bar. You won’t spot houses easily.  Yet get out of the car and the first thing that hits you is the pure air. Gone is the smell of city traffic and construction. It’s pure and agricultural.  

The Enclosure Bar at The Horse and Jockey Hotel doesn’t feel like it’s changed since I first stopped there many years ago: wooden furnishings, many nooks, a high bar and a welcoming feel. The pub’s decor is the folklore of GAA (county and club) and horse racing. You won’t need to ask the bar staff to ‘turn on the match’ of whatever description in this pub.

Sometimes pub grub in these motorway-defined locations leaves a lot to be desired. There’s good choice at The Enclosure Bar. It feels like genuine (country) pub grub. You’re not feeling bereft when you pay the bill.

Whenever I think of an off-motorway restaurant or diner I think of Hopper’s painting Nighthawks, which evokes loneliness and somewhere people would rather not be. I’m wrong about Nighthawks: it’s neither a diner on a travel route nor inspired by loneliness. The Enclosure Bar surprises too. It doesn’t quite feel like a stop-off but more a melting pot of locals and those en route somewherewho, like me, would happily stay and sack off the remainder of the journey. It’s nice knowing there’s always a place with a welcome and good offering on the road from here to there.