Tales from the Tinker's Dam

Pub Stories

Daniel Gabriel


You are about to set foot in The Tinker’s Dam, a Welsh country pub run (with a little luck and a dash of panache) by Irish proprietor Gerry Culhane. Whether the topic is rugby, singing coal miners, or Margo the barmaid’s current boyfriend, there’s always something afoot at The Dam.


In Tales From The Tinker’s Dam, Daniel Gabriel has gathered together a lively cast of quirky characters—the inhabitants of a small village in Wales—whose adventures and misadventures are full of humor and humanity. A vivid depiction of a cherished time and place, Tales From the Tinker’s Dam is a tribute to a world were loyalty and love, failure and friendship, form the dramas of daily life.

- Sheila O’Connor, author of Tokens of Grace and Where No Gods Came


This book is funny. Daniel Gabriel’s witty writing took me to a place I had never before visited and introduced me to a new friend in Gerry. With every chapter I finished I had the same, demonstrative feeling I experienced each week for my friends from Lake Wobegon: ‘Don’t leave now, I was just going to make espresso!’

- Ali Selim, writer and director of Sweet Land


Daniel Gabriel has written a gem. This collection of boisterous tales, featuring the misadventures of an Irish publican striving to bring improvements and a bit of class to a Welsh pub, sets a cozy spot for readers at the bar. Have yourself a Best Bitter or a pint of dry cider with a touch of sweet, as you rub elbows with Wee Hughie, Dai Legg, lovesick Rhys Jones, and the rest of the regulars.

- Bart Schneider, author of Secret Love and Beautiful Inez
Read a sample story: Always Wet


ISBN 978-0-9800375-1-7       $12.99 US       Includes free shipping!

Listen to an audio recording of Daniel's story Always Wet.

Daniel Gabriel's stories and articles have appeared in nearly 200 publications in 8 countries. Currently he is statewide Arts Education Programs Director for COMPAS. Besides being publicans in Wales, he and his wife Judith have traveled by camelback, tramp freighter and third-class train through over 80 countries. Gabriel has also worked as a sailor in the West Indies, a teacher in Spain, an apple picker in the Alps, and a roadie for Sly & the Family Stone. A generation from now, he will be remembered primarily for the epic achievements of his sons, Alex and Evan.