Frank Haughton moved to the Czech Republic in 1993 with one goal in mind; to open the first Irish Pub in the Czech Republic.

Rudimentary math, isn't it? At first James Joyce catered primarily to the ex-pat community that was growing at a rapid rate at that time.

However the Czechs have caught on to the fact that this ambient place has good traditional Irish food and there has been an ever-increasing amount of Czech patronage since. Riding the success of James Joyce, Frank opened Caffrey's, located on Old Town Square, in February 1997.

This March 14th through the 17th, Frank is planning the First Annual Czech/Irish Traditional Music Festival (in conjunction with James Joyce, The Irish Pub and Caffrey's).

"I don't want to get up on St. Patrick's Day and just wave the Irish flag... ", says Frank. His goal is to bring Irish and Czech culture together through the festival.

Groups like the Dublin Concert Group, which consists of 25 musicians and vocalists, and the Canty Cerry Choir will be making the trip from Ireland for the four day festival. What's more there will be Czech groups both joining the Irish groups and performing alone during the festival.

There will also be traditional Irish dancing, not to mention the readings from James Joyce's works and other Irish authors between sets. The tentative plan is to have bands perform at the Old Town Square stage from 14:00 to 18:00 (or maybe 20:00) each day. At night the bands will be jamming at the Irish pubs around Prague. Sponsors of the festival include Guinness, Caffrey's Irish Ale and Jameson Irish Whiskey.

Frank hopes to make this a truly annual event that will eventually be part of the yearly Prague music and social calendar.

He recognizes the ties between Ireland and the Czech Republic throughout history and he intends to make those ties stronger than ever. I asked Frank if he enjoys living in Prague, his answer was simple, "Yes, of course I do!"