AUGUSTA – The couple who found success pitching Maine bachelor lobsterman and lobstering women’s calendars have crossed the ocean to find models for their 2003 version. But the latest posers pull taps instead of traps.

Joanne Gray and Will Cook feature unmarried pub owners and barmen in their “Bachelor Pint Pullers of Ireland” calendars which are being ordered by Irish as well as American shops in plenty of time for the new year.

The couple moved to Ireland from the Rockland, Maine, area in January, taking residence in a former Royal Irish Constabulary stone barracks in Tremane dating back to the 1850s. Since then, Cook has photographed barmen from pubs in 12 of Ireland’s counties.

“We would just walk in and say, ‘Are you a bachelor?”‘ said Gray, who has dual Irish-American citizenship and was back in Maine on Monday for a two-week visit. The barmen were all thrilled to be featured in the calendars, she said.

“They loved it,” said Gray. Despite the attention, “they’re getting a lot of codding – that means kidding – about this.”

Each month features a different pub along with a brief description of the establishment, along with words of wisdom from the man who pulls the tap. Their observations underscore the central role pub life plays in Irish life.

“The actual bar work is only secondary to the amateur psychiatric responsibilities you have,” says the calendar’s Mr. February, Jerry MacDonagh, owner of a pub in Castleblakney, County Galway.

MacDonagh, it turns out, also has a tie to Maine. He told Gray and Cook that a previous owner of his pub emigrated to the United States and now owns a motel in Rockport. Another pub owner they met is an authority on the American Civil War.

In County Mayo, Barry Mulligan in tiny Ballyhaunis lamented the loss of local pubs in the community of about 1,500 over the years.

“There were once 52 pubs in town and there are only 22 now, so it’s difficult to know what the future holds for us,” says Mulligan, the calendar’s Mr. May.

Mr. April, Richard Kennedy of Drumshanbo, explained on his leaf why he chose to run a pub in the County Leitrim, saying it’s “the only county left in Ireland that doesn’t have a traffic light.”

So far, 10,000 calendars have been printed, with half destined for sales in the United States and half in Ireland. Gray said she uses the Internet to find shops that specialize in Irish books and gifts in cities with large Irish and Irish-American populations, such as New York, Chicago and Boston.

But a lot of the searching for vendors is done through word of mouth, she said.

Two versions of the calendars have been printed. While the pint pullers pictured are the same in both, the holidays are different in each country.

The Irish calendars highlight Roman Catholic holy days such as All Saints Day on Nov. 1, the Immaculate Conception on Dec. 8, and St. Stephen’s Day, or Boxing Day, on Dec. 26. The American calendars include the traditional secular holidays.

Gray and Cook launched their “Bachelor Lobstermen of Maine” calendar, featuring buff as well as beefy men who tend traps for a living, in 2001. It was followed by their “Lobstering Women of Maine” calendar for 2002.