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It helped him vault over his rival Stephen A. Douglas to secure the nomination as the Republican presidential candidate. After nearly two centuries of operation, the bar has compiled its own canon of secrets. Now, just in time for St. Patrick’s Day, I’m going to share of few of my favorites with you.
I was overall pleasantly surprised by the burger at McSorley's, but I wish the cheese had been more melted.
As we sat there, inhaling the fug and sipping and smoking and talking about sentence structure, I would pick out one item or another and make up little stories about it. When Dorothy and her husband, Harry, passed away in 1974 and 1975, respectively, their son, Danny, inherited the bar. Just two years later, he sold it to night manager Matthew Maher, who still owns the tavern to this day. Regardless, McSorley’s asserts itself as “New York City’s oldest continuously operating saloon.” Other Big Apple bars, like Pete’s Tavern, may assert the same exact thing, but disputing the claim seems entirely beside the point.
History
We Were Here Before You Were Born: Fatherhood At NYC's Famed McSorley's - Forbes
We Were Here Before You Were Born: Fatherhood At NYC's Famed McSorley's.
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A wanted poster for John Wilkes Booth hangs on the wall after he assassinated McSorley’s patron and 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. It took another 16 years for McSorley’s to finally install a women’s bathroom. After settling in the Big Apple, McSorley established a pub, opening the Old House at Home on East 7th Street in Manhattan. In the early 19th century, the Old House at Home came to be known as McSorley’s Old Ale House in honour of its proprietor. The story of New York’s oldest Irish bar starts back in 1827 when John McSorley was born in County Tyrone. During the Great Famine and at 24, John emigrated to the United States via Liverpool, landing in New York City in 1851.
The Top 10 Secrets of McSorley’s Old Ale House in NYC
Above the fireplace is the McSorley’s motto “Be Good or Be Gone”, as well as a portrait of Peter Cooper, founder of Cooper Union. There have been few structural changes to the Old Ale House, the kitchen being a glaring exception. With the Supreme Court ruling of 1970 (allowing women entry into McSorley’s), the bathroom became coed.
There are no TVs at McSorley’s and no ambient music—the only noises you’ll hear are the clinking of glasses and the muted hum of people’s conversations. Perhaps the most famous artifacts are the wishbones dangling from a gas lamp above the bar. After finishing a free meal at the bar, soldiers departing to serve in WWI left their wishbones—from turkeys, chickens, and one duck—intending to collect them upon their safe return. In 2011, a city health inspector insisted that the wishbones, encased in years of dust, be cleaned. McSorley’s is not the oldest bar in New York City—that distinction goes to Fraunces Tavern, open since 1762—although Shane Buggy, a bartender at McSorley’s, disputes this fact.
"Every day is a blessing. I'm healthy, I feel good," Doyle said. "I met Chase Utley, Moose Johnston came in one night," Doyle recalled. "When I first started working here, I didn't know how long I'd be here. Then I got the job as a doorman, eventually, I became a bartender," Doyle said. Ah, yes, and Abraham Lincoln, who stopped by in 1960 while in town to give his famous Cooper Union address. Don’t go to McSorley’s hoping for a chilled glass of pinot, though.
h Street Bar
In a city filled with pricey craft cocktails and thousands of beers on tap, McSorley’s lack of choice—and the $5.50-per-drink price tag—is as refreshing as their light ale, which comes in pairs. John kept horses out back and his son, Bill, who eventually took over the bar from his father, was an avid reader. The two-glass policy evolved so father and son could tend to their hobbies in between pours. Health inspectors also had a problem with another McSorley’s regular—Minnie the Second, one of many cats who have called the pub home over the years.
Above the bar, wishbones gather many generations worth of dust from their perch on the old gas lamp. Look closely and you’ll spot an original wanted poster for Abe Lincoln’s assassin as well as Babe Ruth’s farewell photo from Yankee stadium (a donation from the photographer-a regular himself). There’s plenty of that memory in the bar calling out for a focus. Plaques, unit markings, random war souvenirs carried home in some veteran’s kitbag.
The Best Irish Pubs In NYC
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He passed away just three years later, leaving the bar to his daughter, Dorothy O’Connell Kirwan. The change of hands was ironic considering that McSorley’s did not allow women on the premises at the time. Kirwan promised her father that she would not overturn that rule. She also vowed never to set foot in McSorley’s during operating hours – a promise she kept even after the establishment was forced to admit the fairer sex in 1970 thanks to a lawsuit brought about by two females who were denied entry. I could have spent hours looking at every piece of art and history, and it made me feel a sense of pride in my Irish heritage. It felt as if I were in a living time capsule, surrounded by people who were there for a great time in one of the most historic spots in the city.
According to legend, bartenders would step on a special pedal to fill the mugs with the real deal to longtime customers. McSorley’s managed to avoid legal trouble because many of Tammany Hall politicians drank there throughout Prohibition. Throughout these years, American painter John Sloan also famously created a series of still life paintings of McSorley’s, such as the one above.
There was a strong sense of pride and camaraderie in the bar, with customers happy to let others through to the bar, introduce themselves, or tip their Irish bartenders. I felt more connected to my own Irish heritage than I have in years, and proud of the role Irish people have played throughout history in this country and in New York City. I enjoyed both the light and the dark ale, though I preferred the light, and thought they went down smoothly. When I visited McSorley's, the bar was teeming with people and there were very few places to sit.
I'm always a little hesitant about ordering bar food – you just never know what you're going to get, especially from places popular with tourists — but I was surprised by how much I liked the burger. Ahead of St. Patrick's Day 2023, I wanted to visit the bar given its rich history and connection to my heritage. My grandparents were first-generation Irish immigrants who later moved to England.
Notables have long been attracted to McSorley’s no-frills environment. Ulysses S. Grant, Theodore Roosevelt, John Lennon, Woody Guthrie, Peter Cooper, e.e. Cummings, Harry Houdini, J. Giels, John F. Kennedy, and Frank McCourt have all sidled up to the ale house’s bar at one time or another. The décor, the memorabilia, and even some of the fare (the cheese, crackers and raw onion dish has been offered since opening day!) remain untouched from the time that John McSorley ran the place.
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