Overview

During the years 1971 to 2006, Lyn McGettigan and her husband Brian owned and managed six hotels, including the famous Sheila's Tavern in North Sydney. Raised in the bush, her rough-and-tumble country upbringing equipped her well to be a publican's wife. With a short stature, quick wit and three children in tow, she quickly learned how to handle all the characters who walked in and out of their lives, and God forbid that any one of them try to walk over her! From the public-bar guys--salt of the earth, hard-working blokes--to the saloon-bar types--police and their informers, magistrates, media, advertising guys, politicians, office girls, girlfriends and wives--to the colourful characters who moved between both worlds--the underworld figures, crims and bikies and 'women of the night'--under Lyn's eagle eye, all mixed socially and minded their own business. While danger may have lurked around the bar-room door, the pub was their turf, and as she looked after them, they looked after her and made it a safe place. This is the story of the characters who walked in and out of the bar-room door, the antics they got up to, and the feisty little woman behind the bar who took it all in her stride.

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9781925959475

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Ever fancied yourself as 'mine host' of a popular city pub? Take a walk in the shoes of someone who's done it. Lyn McGettigan introduces a cast of Runyonesque patrons- gamblers, actors, musos, 'colourful racing identities'. There's never a dull moment in 'Behind the Bar-Room Door'. Caroline Jones AO A good read, as if it was yesterday. Glad to have been part of the era. Col Joye AM, Joy Boys and other larrikins

Author Information

"Lyn, one of three children, was born in the city, raised in the bush, in Glen Innes and Baradine. Her father was in the Forestry Commission and her mother was a nurse. She was educated at St Ursula's, Kingsgrove, then graduated from Bathurst Teachers' College. The work ethic of her parents, the rough and tumble of country life, then challenging teaching in 'difficult 'country and city High Schools, equipped her well for her life in pubs. In 1971 Lyn met Brian the Publican at The Penshurst Hotel. Their first hotel together was the red-brick, suburban Union Hotel at North Sydney, folllowed by Sheila's- a unique, new entertainment concept, then McGettigan's, where an under-age disco brought together the teenagers of Sydney. Tatts Tavern at Penrith was a tough pub. Never a dull moment, fondly remembered. A tree change to The Lake Jindabyne Hotel, a huge entertainment venue showcasing Australian and International bands. Then her last hotel, The Kincumber on the Central Coast, where she was greeted by a warm caring community. Lyn led a parallel life. After gaining her Hospitality qualifications at Ryde TAFE, 1985, and from Cornell University, she taught and trained Hospitality students throughout NSW, in clubs, pubs TAFE and UNSW. The slogan, ""No More It's the Law"" is the lasting result of one training session in Jindabyne. She fulfilled a childhood dream when she graduated from UNE in 2001 with a BA in Archaeology (Aboriginal) and Palaeoanthropology and worked with the Indigenous mobs on the Central Coast. Her three children, Danielle, Kate and Brian, lived and survived through this life and have followed her into Hospitality. As she passed through the bar-room door for the last time, Lyn knew there were too many good stories to go untold. She is divorced, writing, and enjoying life with her friends, family and grandchildren, and consulting in the Hospitality industry."

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