In a one-block radius in Somerville's sleepyDavis Square, three Irish pubs represent thetradition--and commercialism--of the Hub's versionof Irish-Americanism.

The Burren, a pub tucked away behind atraditional Irish facade of window panels and acolorful door, is the product of recent Irishtransplants trying to establish a little slice oftheir homeland in Massachusetts.

The owners of the pub, musicians Tommy McCarthyand Louise Costello, said tried to give the bar adistinct Irish flavor beyond Guinness withpictures of the Burren, a desolate, rocky areafrom Costello's home in County Clare, when theyopened it in 1996.

The Burren hosts live Irish music seven nightsa week, and already has had members of theChieftains and Riverdance pay a visit.

Grainne O'Callahan, a waitress, praises the baras similar to the pubs of her hometown of Galway.

"It's the closest thing to an Irish bar thereis in Boston," she says.

Through its music, the Burren has maintained atraditional Irish identity, though alsocapitalizing on the interest in Ireland brought onby Michael Flatley's "Lord of the Dance" andRiverdance.

While the Burren can be considered an authenticIrish pub, the Joshua Tree Bar across the streetseems to be Irish only in name.

Founded less than two years ago, the bar, witha similar facade to the Burren's, is worlds apart.

Though all the bartenders are Irish andGuinness is certainly on tap, a sign upon enteringinforms patrons of a "Red Dog Special."

Manager Allen A. Doyle is candid that eventhough the name is taken from U2's 1987 album, TheJoshua Tree is far from a pub.

"It's not really an Irish bar; it is really anAmerican bar run by the Irish," he says.

Doyle says some of the patrons don't evenunderstand the meaning of the bar's "Irish" name.

"They don't know it's an album," he says.

Old-School Irish