An Irish bachelor party in Prague donned Hitler masks just meters away from the city’s Jewish Quarter.

The father-of the-bride has since defended the group saying that their youth was to blame. As a group in their 20s and 30s, he claims, that they probably had no idea what happened in World War II or that Prague was a city within the former Czechoslovakia.

The group of 25 to 30 men from Cork sported the masks in Caffrey’s Irish Bar, Prague, owned by Irishman Frank Haughton.

Haughton, who has operated Caffrey’s Bar for the past 22 years, wrote to the Irish Examiner to vent his anger at the behaviour of the group in what he calls “only a small summary of their actions.”

“This is my first letter to a newspaper on the subject of stag parties,” he writes.

“There are two in the ‘truly repulsive’ category that really stand out and it is with sadness and shame I must state that both came from Ireland.”

When there group were questioned about the insensitive costumes by other elderly customers, Haughton states that they were abusive and shameful and that “their vulgar treatment of waitresses as sex objects, words cannot describe.”

Talking to the Independent, Haughton says “I’ve never seen anything like this – the abuse of the [waitresses], smacking their asses, grabbing them.

“It’s rather insensitive, but what seemed to upset the staff more was their reaction to a couple over 70 [who questioned their behaviour] and they were subject to a tirade of very foul language. They were also tourists.

“Some of the guys were well behaved but they were let down by the vast majority of them. They were a group of about 25 guys, and when you have a group that behaves like this, the whole group gets tarnished.”

The bar owner reports that bachelor parties are common in Prague and that 90% of those that visit his pub are from the UK. The remainder are from Ireland.

He states that there is rarely any trouble from bachelor parties.

“We get to know the leader,” he says, “and we build a relationship with them that stops things getting out of control, but with these guys it just wasn’t possible.”

“They should not be let outside the door,” he continued in his letter, “and to the poor person who may marry one of them — you are in for a hell of a shock.”

“It saddens me to write this letter about people from my country which I love so much but these guys should be put away.”

The father-of-the-bride has since defended the actions of the bachelor party on Cork’s 96fm saying, “There is no malice in them, there’s no harm. They went away for a nice time. You can’t control all the people there.

“[My future son-in-law] is a lovely guy and he’s quiet. You wouldn’t hear him behind a paper bag.

“I wasn’t at the stag [bachelor] but I know the guys that were out there and they’re a very decent bunch of guys.

“When they found out what was after going down, they went away and changed their clothes and went over and they apologized.

He continued to admit, however, that had he been in attendance, he would not have approved of the masks or of the manner in which the group dealt with waitresses.

“If a guy said that to my daughter,” he said, “I’d probably give him a clatter around the ear. They probably wouldn’t do it again.

“I know if I was there I certainly wouldn’t have allowed it anyway because I know the history of the world war, and I know what [Hitler] did, and it was very, very inappropriate.

“They’re not cowboys. They’re decent guys. What they did was inappropriate but when they found out what happened they apologised, now, who they apologised to I just don’t know.”

Do you think the men behaved poorly? Let us know what you think in the comment section, below.