After Father Peter McClaren and another priest were ordained at the Cardiff Metropolitan Cathedral on Sunday, he and his fellow clergymen-in-training decided to hit the town to celebrate. Sadly for them, it didn't quite go to plan.
When the seven-strong squad of Catholic priests descended on the The City Arms for a few bevvies, the bar staff mistook the group for a stag do. Due to the pub's strict policy of no hens or stags, they were asked leave the establishment
The priests told Wales Online: "On arrival, the bartender informed [us] that it was policy not to grant entry to fancy dress parties or stag dos. Upon hearing this, our initial impression was that this was a joke until it became clear that this was not the case and he was in fact serious.
"After insisting to no avail that [we] were in fact students for the priesthood, two of [us] having recently been ordained deacons, we turned to leave.
Advert
"A gentleman, whom [we] assumed to be the manager, then approached [us] at the door and reassured us that he did accept who [we] claimed to be and subsequently invited us back in. By way of apology, he then very graciously provided us with a round of drinks, at which point the group decided to stay, provoking an outburst of applause from the locals casually enjoying a pint."
A free round? Amen to that.
Writing in a blog post about the incident, the Archdiocese of Cardiff said: "We'd like to thank the City Arms for being good sports through all of this and their kind gesture to our seminarians - and please note a number of our clergy, including the Archbishop of Cardiff, frequent your bar so don't turf any more out please!"
Matt Morgan, assistant manager at The City Arms, told LADbible: "At first one of our staff members thought the group were a stag party in fancy dress and suggested they might want to try another pub, as we generally have a quieter crowd of drinkers than others nearby.
Advert
"When we realised our mistake we quickly apologised to the priests and thankfully they were all great sports and saw the funny side of the situation.
"We offered them a free round of drinks and they were happy to stay and continue their evening in the pub.
"Our Rev James ale is one of our most popular beers so it was great to have a real-life Reverend James and his fellow priests enjoying a pint or two!
"It's not every day you have a group of priests drinking in the pub and they would be welcome back any time."
Featured Image Credit: Facebook / Brains
