Zach Bryan reveals his favourite Irish pub – and left jaw-dropping tip for staff
Zach the lad |
Staff gobsmacked as the American country superstar gives €6K tip to three staff members
The singer, who is performing to 180,000 fans at the Phoenix Park this weekend, with the final of three shows taking place this evening, spent Wednesday night drinking in The Celt on Dublin's Talbot Street after landing in Ireland that day.
'Shout out to the Celt last night, best damn bar in Ireland,' Bryan posted on his Instagram after the visit.
And yesterday publican Noel Tynan, the owner of The Celt, told how the Something In The Orange singer gave his three bar staff a total of €6,000 as a tip after hearing how one of them was working late night to pay his college fees.
'Zach was at the counter talking to staff and one of them said he was a student,' Noel reveals.
Country star Zach Bryan arm-wrestling pub owner Noel Tynan
'He was asking why he was working so late and he said he was doing it to get a few bob for college. 'Maybe I'll help you,' Zach said.
'So he left a tip of €6,000 for the three of them and said, 'That's his fees paid for now.' He also gave me tickets for a couple of terminally ill children from Crumlin Hospital to attend the show tonight.
'Zach is the most down-to-earth young fella you'll ever meet. He first came here two years ago when he played a couple of nights at The Helix.
'Hugo Keenan the rugby player is pretty friendly with him and my son, Donnacha, is good friends with Hugo. It was Hugo who had brought him back here the first time.
'They had been down in Temple Bar, but it wasn't Zach's scene. He's from a small place called Oologah in Oklahoma, which has a population of 4,000 people.
'Hugo said, 'I know a great pub,' and he brought him here that night and sure he loved it. We have a great mix of tourists and locals and there's a couple of characters in the pub as well and they like that. There's a great céad míle fáilte. The bar staff chat to everyone.
'My son, Donnacha, is a good guitar player and singer. He did a number of Irish ballads for Zach that night and the next thing Zach started singing. He's on YouTube singing songs in The Celt two years ago.'
Country star Zach Bryan
News in 90 Seconds - June 22nd
On Wednesday night Bryan took The Celt's owner Noel Tynan in an arm wrestle – later posting a photo on social media.
'It was a serious arm wrestle and I've seldom been beaten, even by rugby players, but I was shocked how quick he put me down,' Noel said yesterday. 'He's as strong as an ox.'
Noel also revealed that while Zach hasn't been back to the bar, which was mobbed on Wednesday after he revealed he was drinking there, his dad Dewayne Bryan has been in The Celt every day since – and was yesterday mingling with country fans and Limerick hurling supporters in the pub.'
'In the last couple of days Dewayne has been giving tickets for Zach's concert to people in the pub who get up and sing,' Noel added.
Although most people in Ireland weren't familiar with Zach Bryan before this weekend – his followers found him on YouTube and various music platforms.
He first began uploading his songs to YouTube in 2017, with his buddies filming him live on his iPhone. One of his songs, Heading South, finally went viral, which set him on the road to the success he's enjoying today. Following his debut on the Grand Ole Opry in 2021, he then got a record contract with Warner Records.
On Spotify, Zach, whose hits include I Remember Everything, was the third most streamed artist of 2024 in the US, with Taylor Swift being tops and Drake in second place.
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