Background: This study establishes baseline prevalence of smoking and cigarette consumption among Cork bar workers prior to the Republic of Ireland’s (ROI) smokefree workplace legislation and compares gender- and age-specific smoking rates and estimates the adjusted odds of being a smoker for Cork bar workers relative to the general population.

Methods: Cross-sectional random sample of bar workers in Cork city and cross-sectional random telephone survey of the general population were conducted prior to the smokefree legislation.

Results: Self reported smoking prevalence among Cork bar workers (n = 129) was 54% (58% using cotinine-validated measures), with particularly high rates in women (70%) and 18–28 years old (72%). Within the ROI (n = 1,240) sub-sample rates were substantially lower at 28%. Bar workers were twice as likely to be smokers as the general population sub-sample (OR = 2.15).

Conclusions: Cork bar workers constitute an occupational group with an extremely high smoking prevalence.