Visit us, we're Irish

Historically, St. Patrick's Day is a holy day, celebrating the patron saint of Ireland. The holiday happens to fall during Lent, a time when Catholics traditionally give up vices such as drinking. But on the feast day of March 17, the Irish tend to celebrate with a pint or two ... or 12, or 13. So it goes that St. Patrick's Day celebrations have moved from the church to the pub.

We wanted to know what makes a genuine Irish pub -- what separates the pots of gold from the blarney? What we found out is that some of the Twin Cities' most successful and respected pubs are, not surprisingly, owned by Irish immigrants. Kieran Folliard, owner of the popular Kieran's Irish Pub and the Local in Minneapolis and the Liffey in St. Paul, hails from the small town of Ballyhaunis in County Mayo, Ireland. Dermot Cowley, who owns O'Donovan's in Minneapolis and Jake O'Connor's Public House in Excelsior, emigrated from Ireland at the age of 18. Tom Scanlon, who owns the Dubliner and Turf Club in St. Paul, is also from Ireland.

Although each of these pubs has its own unique design, both Folliard and Cowley say that the overarching goal of an Irish pub is to provide a sense of community. "At the end of the day, a pub is a gathering place," says Folliard. It's a place where townspeople could relax with a pint and discuss the news of the day with friends and neighbors. The term "pub" is actually short for "public house."

At first, people gathered in friends' and neighbors' homes. Then village shops began selling ale in addition to their usual wares. You could go to the hardware store and have a pint while purchasing a hammer. If your wife dragged you to the drapery store, you could go sit at the bar while she shopped. (Imagine how many guys would go shopping with their wives/girlfriends these days if Victoria's Secret had a bar.)

Eventually, these stores gave way to full-fledged public houses. The pubs were primarily male-oriented, but women could go as well; they just had to be segregated from the guys in enclosed booth areas called "snugs." Cowley says the snugs in modern-day Irish pubs now function as places where guests can be secluded and have intimate conversations while still being part of the larger bar area.

Cowley and Folliard created their pubs with specific goals in mind. Each of Folliard's pubs was designed with special attention to the surroundings and history of its location. The building that the Local resides in was built in 1912, and Folliard wanted the pub to feel like it had been there that long. The Local's large, wooden bar is handmade, as is the etched glass. Both are a nod to turn-of-the-century craftsmanship and design. With the Liffey, Folliard's team wanted a neighborhood bar where everyone who attended an event at the nearby Xcel Energy Center would feel welcome. Folliard says that his pubs are egalitarian: "I want to see a diverse crowd. If I walk around on a Friday or Saturday night and it looks homogenous, I get worried."

Many features at the Local and the Liffey were imported from Ireland, and what wasn't imported was handmade in Minnesota. Folliard wryly notes that a distributor called the Irish Pub Co. sells prefabricated pub designs and exports them around the world, but he's not a fan.

As far as the atmosphere and entertainment, Cowley says, "If it wouldn't fly in Dublin, you won't see it here." O'Donovan's does book live Irish folk music, but "you won't be hearing 'Danny Boy' on Friday night," he says. Cowley says he's selective about who he lets play, saying performers have to have the same sense of friendliness and hospitality that his staff does. "The day you think you're above the customer is the day you should quit the industry," Cowley says.

A few blocks away in downtown Minneapolis, Kieran's Irish Pub has a more eclectic feel with live bands and poetry readings. Kieran's also features a staple of real Irish pubs: the traditional session night. Grad students and octogenarians alike bring their flutes, fiddles, bagpipes and drums, sit at a large table and play traditional Irish music while sipping pints and munching on fish and chips. The affair is open to anyone who wishes to join in. Maeve O'Mara, owner of the St. Paul shop Irish on Grand, says that session nights like the ones at Kieran's and at Keegan's Irish Pub in northeast Minneapolis are reminiscent of those at pubs back in Ireland.

O'Mara says that the Twin Cities is lucky to have several "incredibly genuine" Irish pubs, and "so many people who know how to pour a good pint of Guinness." She doesn't have a favorite pub, but she says St. Paul's Dubliner reminds her most of pubs in Ireland, where guys would go after working construction to have a pint.

For Folliard, his businesses are not just bars or restaurants, but places for people to relax with friends, where people can come to kick back and get rid of stress. "If it was ever more important, now is the time [for Irish pubs], with the way things are going."

Folliard and Cowley agree that hospitality is everything. When interviewing a potential employee, Cowley looks primarily for a friendly, outgoing attitude, not necessarily experience. "I can teach anyone how to be a great bartender," he says. Folliard says his mission is to tend to every customer so they can't wait to come back. "The heart of an Irish pub is the welcoming. People are giving us their hard-earned money. We have to be grateful for their business."

Both pub owners are eagerly awaiting St. Patrick's Day. Cowley is merely hoping that people show up. He says it's a fear of his, though rather unfounded, that his will be the only Irish pub with no patrons on St. Patrick's Day. That shouldn't be a problem; last year, O'Donovan's moved 140 kegs of beer on St. Pat's.

Still, the Irishmen emphasize that their businesses are meant for year-round enjoyment. "St. Patrick's Day is great, but it's only one day," Folliard says. "You can't sustain a year-round business on only one day.

"I want 11 more saints, so we can have [a holiday] each month."