BAR owner Henry Kavanagh may be 93 but he has no intention of 'calling time' on the job he loves.
The publican has run Rostrevor pub Fearon's, or Henry's as it is known by locals, for almost 70 years - and can still be found behind the counter, but only after 8.30pm when the bar opens.
Although he has help from his trusted local staff, the great-grandfather is still very much the boss, according to his daughter Mary.
"It's the customers who keep him working," she said. "They are very loyal and now that dad is older, they come in and check to see that he is okay."
Originally from Belfast, Mr Kavanagh moved to the Co Down village shortly after marrying his late wife Bronagh (née Fearon) in 1950.
His father-in-law, who owned the family bar, had suffered a stroke and Mr Kavanagh stepped into the breach, giving up his job in the Civil Service to help take care of him and run the business.
Mary said: "There were three of us children and we were serving customers from we were able to see over the counter.
"We were reared here, like my mother was, but we worked for nothing. You got the odd cigarette when you were in your teenage years."
When his wife died 24 years ago, Mr Kavanagh continued at the helm, maintaining a family tradition which began with John A Fearon (his wife's great-grandfather) in 1820.
Mr Kavanagh has great memories of his early life in Belfast. "There were street fighters like Silver McKee and Buck Alec, who used to walk the city's streets with a pet lion," he said.
But he admits he is a committed coast dweller now, maybe due in part to his service in the Merchant Navy during the Second World War, which he joined as a radio officer in 1943 at the age of 17.
He has had the sea in his blood ever since and still keeps a boat moored in the dock in Warrenpoint, taking every opportunity to take to the water with his son David and other family and friends.
Mary said: "They wanted to ground him last year but he was having none of it. He got them to put the boat in the water, waited until the tide came in and took himself down the gangplank and hopped in."
The bar is not only known as Henry's locally but further afield, it would seem, with a postcard from Australia simply addressed 'Henry's Rostrevor' arriving safely at its destination.
Rostrevor resident William Graham, a former political correspondent for the Irish News, described Henry's as an "institution" in the area.
He said that despite his age, Henry is to be found "standing straight behind the bar, pulling the perfect pint".
"The bar only opens in the evenings ...and is it one of the few in Ireland which does not have a TV," said Mr Graham. "A visit to Henry's is not for viewing TV or using a mobile phone but instead a place for conversation and dialogue and laughter.
"All classes and creeds come together in Henry's. On the wall is pinned a world map and Henry can point to all all the places he has been on the high seas as a merchant seaman and yachtsman. He has quite remarkable stories to tell..."
Mr Graham explained that American cousins he has brought to visit the pub always ask about Henry when they phone for a catch-up.
"It's a special place and he's a special man," he added.
