Irish Pub

The poster at the rear of the small, nearly empty room, a place that might be a down-at-the-heels Welsh country church or the cheap lodgings of an old trouper with a story to tell, reads "The Fantastic Francis Hardy, Faith Healer. One Night Only. " Just the facts. The room is the setting for the four monologues that make up the whole of Brian Friel's Faith Healer, which opened Wednesday and runs through Feb. 14 at the People's Light & Theatre Company. And the poster, with its flat, unadorned statement of Who and When, provides virtually the only information that will go unchallenged in this fascinating, enigmatic play.

The Irish Pub, an Atlantic City landmark for 20 years, is more than just a bar. With its warm wood-and-brass decor, collection of antique memorabilia, selection of reasonably priced imported beers, hearty food, friendly service and overall good vibes, it's the next best thing to winging your way to the Emerald Isle. And it's more than deserving of its reputation as a beloved Shore institution. For years, the Pub avoided change, seemingly remaining frozen in time and space.

For those who feel that St. Patrick's Day is too grand a holiday to be limited to one day or even one weekend, once again the Erin Express will be getting a jump on the big celebration - observed officially on Tuesday, March 17 - by hitting the "Green Route" tomorrow and again next Saturday. The course of the Green Route takes celebrators to and from a number of saloons (Irish in fact or Irish in spirit) in West Philadelphia and Center City. Five buses will transport folks along the route between 2 and 6 p.m. Reservations are not required and the service is free.

Granted, most towns have Gaelic-style watering holes. But, the offerings at the Shore are in a class by themselves. A MCGREAT CAFE. McGuire's Greater Pittsburgh Cafe is a no-nonsense, no- frills Irish bar. The pub doesn't have any special beers on tap. The decor isn't exactly elegant, to put it mildly. There's really not much food, except for a stray ham or cheese sandwich. And the crowd is pretty quiet. But the pub does offer a mean game of darts, a jukebox stocked with all your traditional Irish favorites, Irish folk singers three nights a week - Mickey Boyle, Peter McDonald and Martin Beck - and lots of Irish patrons.

Mike Miller was in the Irish Pub less than 30 minutes when his car was broken into and a canvas bag containing his valuable law school books and class notes was stolen. Parked - illegally, he admits - under a street lamp at busy 12th and Walnut Streets, he figured he was more likely to get a ticket than get ripped off. But what surprised him more than the theft was that his books and notes were recovered with the help of 22 people - make that 22 strangers - who came to his rescue.

Eh, what's up, Doc? (Chomp, chomp, chomp.) So goes the familiar question - along with the accompanying bites of carrot - by that cartoon favorite Bugs Bunny, the Cwazy Wabbit himself. And what's up is that this month marks the 50th anniversary of Bugs' creation by the folks at Warner Bros., and that Taylor's nightclub will be celebrating the occasion with a Bugs Bunny birthday bash tonight. The club, at 2310 W. Marlton Pike in Cherry Hill, will kick things off with the happy hour starting at 5 p.m. There will be a bunny buffet that will include a bunny mold, plenty of carrot sticks and a birthday cake (carrot, naturally)

St. Patrick's Day is almost as good an excuse for guzzling the brew as New Year's Eve. And every pub worth its pints is more than happy to oblige. But before anyone gets carried away - literally or figuratively - be forewarned that these days the focus is more on having a blast than on getting blasted. Along with all the corny plastic chimney-sweep hats and cardboard shamrocks - what would a festive Irish occasion be without them? - many of the celebrations seem to have taken on a more refined air, with the focus on traditional food and music.

The fastest way to start a brawl in an Irish pub is to ask which part of Ireland is the fairest of all. Some will insist that nothing surpasses rugged Connemara. Others will say that the Lakelands are the closest thing to heaven. But when all is said and done, no one will deny that the Dingle Peninsula offers more interesting antiquities, historic sites and varied mountain scenery than any other patch of the Auld Sod. Stretching 30 miles westward from here, it is the most northerly of the hilly promontories of County Kerry - and as far as you can get from the bustling streets of Dublin, Cork or Killarney.

This is the day when the only things you attempt to moderate are your trips to the restroom. This is the day when the only part of your body you work out is your elbow. This is the day when the only social taboos are discipline and discipline. This is the day many Americans wait for all year. So much so that in recent years, St. Patrick's Day has begotten St. Patrick's Week, especially at pubs throughout the region. "It's not enough to throw a party for one day anymore; now it's a week- long celebration," Mickey Cavanaugh said in a brogue as thick as a pint of ale. Cavanaugh, who came to America 27 years ago from County Galway, has run Cavanaugh's (23d and Sansom Streets, 567-9335)

Say hello to Dicey Reilly's, a new pub that is an attractive and welcome addition to Sansom Street just east of Broad. Lunches are fairly priced and the food is not bad at all. The atmosphere is the American version of the Irish pub, and though pizza, hoagies, roast beef and steak sandwiches are not routinely considered Gaelic fare, Dicey Reilly's does offer some alternatives that are at least vaguely reminiscent of the British Isles. For example, there's Cornish pasty ($6.95 and the most expensive menu item)