New Yorks oldest Irish bar: Inside McSorleys Old Ale House

Table Of Content

• I was overall pleasantly surprised by the burger at McSorley's, but I wish the cheese had been more melted.
• All the world’s a stage: Inside the raw, raucous, and remarkable world of North American fringe festivals
• Five hidden secrets of McSorley’s Old Ale House
• I was surprised by McSorley's location in a very modern section of the East Village.
• h Street Bar
• Replies to “McSorley’s Old Ale House from “Rounders””

Harry Houdini, the Hungarian-American escape artist and magician, was a regular at McSorley’s. To this day, a pair of his handcuffs can be seen dangling from the rafters by the front right window. Two of McSorley's mottos are "Be Good or Be Gone", and "We were here before you were born".

I was overall pleasantly surprised by the burger at McSorley's, but I wish the cheese had been more melted.

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McSorley’s has been open since 1854, and managed to stay so because, at one time, it operated as a speakeasy. The iconic mugs that McSorley’s ale is served in today are a vestige of the Prohibition era when the bar would serve “near beer” (beer with little to no alcohol content) to most patrons. When they returned from the war, the remaining soldiers celebrated by going to McSorley’s, ordering a hearty smattering of light and dark beers and taking down their wishbones. E. Cummings described McSorley's as "the ale which never lets you grow old".[30] He also described the bar as "snug and evil".[30][35] McSorley's was the focus of several articles by New Yorker author Joseph Mitchell.

All the world’s a stage: Inside the raw, raucous, and remarkable world of North American fringe festivals

John McSorley loved cats, keeping up to 18 in the bar at once—a quirk immortalized by John French Sloan in his 1929 painting McSorley’s Cats. In 2011, New York City passed a law forbidding bars and restaurants from keeping cats. Minnie was forced out and, five years later, the Department of Health closed McSorley’s for four days while they resolved a rodent problem. In 1939, when then-owner Daniel O’Connell died and left the bar to his daughter, Dorothy O’Connell Kirwan, she honored the no-women policy and appointed her husband as manager. When the bar celebrated its centennial, Kirwan had her celebratory drink outside on the sidewalk. After women were finally admitted, Kirwan declined to be the first woman served, a decision that makes more sense if you know that the first women’s restroom wasn’t added until 16 years later.

Five hidden secrets of McSorley’s Old Ale House

Since its establishment in 1854, McSorley’s sawdusted floors and tchotchke-covered walls have beckoned countless New Yorkers and visitors alike. It’s been home to presidents and poets, scallywags and scribes—and just about everyone in between. No Deliveries, you have to kick it old school and come to the pub for food and drinks.

The menu at McSorley's is limited, but they had quite a few fan-favorite menu items, from burgers and a fried-chicken sandwich to more traditional items like corned-beef hash and chili. Joseph Mitchell’s book (McSorley’s Wonderful Saloon) and his obituary from the New York Times, hangs beside a LIFE magazine feature story from 1943. You’ll also find a signed copy of Frank McCourt’s best-seller Angela’s Ashes (A gift from the author after his Tom Snyder television interview which took place in the Old Ale House). Many important 20th-century writers would also frequent New York’s oldest Irish bar, including Hunter S. Thompson, Gilbert Sorrentino, Christopher Morley, Paul Blackburn, and, fittingly, Brendan Behan. During World War I, McSorley’s offered all US troops a turkey dinner before deployment. It became tradition for the soldiers to leave the turkeys’ wishbones in the pub to be snapped upon their return.

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The exit door (which was an alternate entrance during prohibition) is currently Stinky and Minnie’s (the house cats) way in and out when the crowds get too large. The spirits of ex-presidents, society figure heads, entertainers and athletes mingle with the working class, the poets and the artists — with a healthy smattering of cats tossed in for good measure! There is vastly more than meets the eye and certainly more than a single visit or even a hundred can possibly reveal. The inspiration for numerous books, paintings and poems, McSorley’s retains, to this day, a static serenity. It is an oasis in an age of disposable objects, quick fixes and attention spans that sputter and stall in short order.

McSorley's Old Ale House – History of New York City - Whitehead Journal of Diplomacy

McSorley's Old Ale House – History of New York City.

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I was playing in bands now, mostly punk, and that was more interesting to me than my classes or the sorry state of the world. If I got called up, I figured—well, I don’t know what I figured. A personal history of New York’s oldest bar and its military legends. An 1865 wanted poster offering a $100,000 reward for the capture of the president’s assassin, John Wilkes Booth, hangs above the bar.

He's also served then Vice President Joe Biden and many other national politicians, athletes and celebrities. The beloved McGillin's bartender is credited with being a matchmaker, saving marriages and pouring countless drinks while working at Philadelphia's oldest continually operating tavern. The Soviet Union had invaded Afghanistan the previous December and refused to leave, so Jimmy Carter had the eighteen- and nineteen year-olds go to their post office and put their names on a piece of paper. I wasn’t for it—in fact, I even put a sticker on my form that the War Resisters’ League was handing out. I was not, however, a particularly serious young man, and indeed a few weeks later when I registered for my classes at NYU I put one of those stickers on that form, too.

Many others have tried to mimic its old-school attitude and its no-nonsense approach, but none come close to the real deal. The bar regularly hosts war veterans, and some have left memorabilia behind. Patrons have gifted the bar two purple hearts, challenge coins, patches, and helmets from all eras. There’s a Civil War-era bayonet, shackles from Camp Sumter, an invitation to the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge, and an original print of Nat Fien’s Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph “The Babe Bows Out,” donated by Fien, a McSorley’s regular. Spending eternity at McSorley’s isn’t an option available to everyone.

Back then, most of the people who lived in the East Village had grown up there. Somehow, they made it back to East 7th St. It also meant that some of those ominous, unsnapped wishbones had been hung up by their brothers, their cousins, their neighbors and friends. When one guest ordered a light and a dark beer for himself and someone else, they seemed surprised when they were each handed two beers. The bartender then explained that they always give people two beers each. According to Eater, each mug holds roughly 6 ounces per glass — a US pint holds 16 ounces — which makes each drink easier to finish and carry around the bar.

Located on First Avenue and occupying the entire block between 29th and 30th Streets — the Brewery proudly carried huge billboards advertising both McSorley’s Cream Stock Ale and McSorley’s Famous Lager. In September, 1979 I moved from Port Washington, Long Island, to Greenwich Village, to be a freshman at New York University. Folk singer Dave Van Ronk also posed outside of McSorley’s Old Ale House for the cover of his 1964 album, Inside Dave Van Ronk. One of the bar’s former in-house cats even made it into the photo. Menu items are written on chalkboards posted throughout the bar and, along with the aforementioned cheese plate, typically include hash, chili, burgers, and a fried chicken sandwich. In 1864, the two-story structure that originally housed McSorley’s was renovated, expanded and transformed into a five-level tenement.

Though famous, McSorley's hasn't always been on the right side of history. According to The New York Times, women have only been allowed inside the bar since 1970, when two members of the National Organization for Women sued the bar for violating the equal-protection ordinance of the 14th Amendment. There were also no female bartenders until the mid-'90s, according to Bedford + Bowery. If the big wood bar is the heart of the Old Ale House, then certainly the coal burning stove is the soul. Perhaps the most touching piece of history in McSorley’s, however, are the wishbones hanging from a light above the bar. Before his 1910 death, John passed the pub on to his son, Bill, who later sold it to patron and retired police officer, Daniel O’Connell.

Part of the charm of McSorley's, in addition to the low prices, is the lack of choice. In a city like New York, I'm accustomed to lengthy drink menus with steep prices. I actually enjoyed the lack of choice, which made ordering fast and simple. When Business Insider's Sarah Jacobs visited in 2017, the beer cost $5.50.