A pensioner, who denies running a shebeen, has been fined €50 for keeping alcohol for sale in a shed at the back of his remote mountain cottage.

'Bog Hotel' proprietor Patsy Brogan, 75, was convicted under the 1924 Intoxicating Liquor Act at Donegal District Court.

He confirmed afterwards he will be appealing the conviction.



Brogan had denied keeping a quantity of alcohol and spirits for sale by retail at the converted shed, dubbed the Bog Hotel, in the Bluestack Mountains near Frosses, Co Donegal on 25 September 2010.

Donegal District Court heard evidence from a garda who had visited the premises incognito six weeks earlier, and consumed approximately five alcoholic drinks.

Garda Paddy Battle, who pretended to be a builder, told the court that he spent under two hours in the premises, which bore all the hallmarks of a bar and chatted with Mr Brogan and another man over the course of the evening.

Brogan's partner, Daria Weiske, was serving drinks behind the bar and Garda Battle had his photograph taken with her.



When he offered to pay for the drink he purchased, he was told by Brogan "'tis alight til you are going".

Before he left he placed a €20 note and a £5 sterling note on the counter and asked Mr Brogan would that cover him.



"He said "that's fine"," he told the court.

On 25 September, 2010 a garda search team arrived at the 'Bog Hotel' under warrant and a quantity of alcohol was seized.

Mr Brogan told one of the team, Sergeant Mick Galvin, that he did not have a licence because the premises was "just a shed".

Paudge Dorrian, solicitor for Mr Brogan, argued that the State had failed to prove that his client had sold or exposed alcohol for sale on the date in question.

Inspector Denis Joyce contended that Garda Battle had "seen retail taking place" six weeks earlier and on the day of the raid, gardaí had discovered alcohol being kept for sale by retail.

Mr Dorrian said his client kept 'a ceili house' in an isolated part of the county.

Judge Kevin Kilrane convicted and fined the accused €50.



Speaking outside afterwards, Mr Brogan said he would be appealing the conviction.

"The moral of the story is this. I have sold no beer to nobody. I have kept no drink for sale. It is not a shebeen. We don't sell drink to anybody.

"Nobody has ever been charged for a drink. If they leave money well and good. If they don't, so be it," he said.

Thrice married Mr Brogan was accompanied for a time in court yesterday by his blonde Polish girlfriend and one time fiancée, Ms Weiske, 31, who works as bar maid and singer in the 'Bog Hotel'.

But Ms Weiske was absent to attend hospital by the time the hearing got under way.

He said that marriage was still on the cards but no date had been fixed.

Last year, Brogan was cleared by the same court of running an illegal bar in his converted shed when Donegal County Council sued him for a breach of planning laws.

Mr Brogan successfully argued that he did not charge for alcoholic drink and Judge Kevin Kilrane accepted evidence that the shed was akin to similar private bars in homes across the country where families shared drinks with friends.