When Irish Eyes Are Smiling.
Cruising The Irish Pubs.

By Lina Miraglia, from the Summer 1999 issue.

At McVeigh's New Windsor Irish Tavern, it would not be odd to be treated like an old friend by people you have just met. In fact, the regulars are exceptionally friendly here and conversations are lively. Before the night is through you might find yourself in the mix of them. If not, then you will surely enjoy the live music. In fact, there's live music at McVeigh's six nights a week throughout the year. Serenading us this evening is the sweet, melodious voice of Gerry Henderson, the lead singer of Legal Aliens. Gerry and his multi-talented partner Martin Pangan, who was born in the Philippines, are playing some very beautiful, standard, Celtic pub tunes: The Green Fields of France (about the futility of war), Carrighfergus (about a sickened traveler wishing to return home) and many others that are still my favorites, no matter how many times I hear them.

In recent years, Gerry has played numerous times in Ireland and what struck him, he claims, is how very different the Irish in Ireland are from the Irish in Canada. "They [the Irish in Ireland] walk around dressed like farmers, but they have really sophisticated taste in music. They're more lively in the pubs", he continues. "They appreciate Irish music".

One song Gerry sings is a bittersweet historical ballad that's full of the angst that plagues Ireland still today. In the song, Joseph Plunkeet is apologizing to the woman he's just married because he's going to be executed the next day. Plunkeet was a member of the Irish government that fought to oust the English from Ireland in the Easter Rising of 1916. He was one of the eight members of his government put in front of an English firing squad.

Jimmy McVeigh, the pub’s owner, proudly displays a print of this government at the front of his pub. A true Irish nationalist, Jimmy is described as a kind man who, in his heart, has never left Ireland. As an immigrant from Belfast, he opened his pub 38 years ago and it's to McVeigh's that new Irish immigrants come when they need help. "If you're Irish and you need work", a young fellow tells me, "Jimmy will do the best he can to get you some. Usually he'll come up with something in two or three days".

On the wall across the room from the print of the Easter Rising is a series of drawings of well known Irish writers: James Joyce, Oscar Wilde, William Butler Yeats, John Millington Synge and a few others. More Irish paraphernalia decorate this largish room - you find many photographs of Ireland and ads for Guinness. Yet, the one piece that best describes the atmosphere of the place is a painting of a weathered old man hugging his beer. The man's thick, turtle-necked sweater and caipin (Irish cap) identify him as an Irishman and his gesture welcomes the viewer much like the regulars at McVeigh's welcome strangers passing through.

The prominent, elongated, solid, wooden bar you find at McVeigh's seems, in my opinion, to always be lined with attractive men, each speaking with one of the many colorful accents of Ireland. People come to McVeigh's because they enjoy the "craic" - that is, the ambiance or the general feeling of well-being that you find in the place. One fellow who lives in Bermuda, but regularly visits Canada on business, told me that McVeigh's is the best Irish pub he's found. "There are good singers early in the night so you don't have to stay out late", he said in an accent I've learned to identify as coming from County Cork. "This is a place where I can feel at home even though I've never been here before".

Robert Costelloe (with Gaelic spelling), the owner of James Gate, another of Toronto's more “authentic" Irish pubs was born and raised in Dublin and came to Canada about 32 years ago. He and his family continue to be active in Toronto's Irish community and they still follow some of Ireland's traditions.

Robert came to own the James Gate Pub through an unusual circumstance. At one time he owned a construction company that was contracted to build an Indian restaurant. When the restaurant owners couldn't pay for the building, Robert was given the option of taking it over. Having come from a family of pub owners in Ireland, it was an easy option for this personable fellow to take. The Indian restaurant was soon turned into the original James Gate.

Years later, Robert purchased the building next door and called the new restaurant Whelan's. He eventually sold the original building and moved James Gate Pub above Whelan's Restaurant. The name "Whelan", by the way, comes from Robert's maternal side. His great grandfather was Tommy Whelan, an Irish composer who wrote some of the Celtic tunes we still hear today.

In the early years, entertainment at James Gate consisted of invited musician friends coming around the pub, pulling out their guitars and casually playing some tunes. Over time this became a regularly scheduled event with formal bookings of some of the best musicians doing the Celtic circuit. But unfortunately that didn’t last. Neighborhood complaints brought an end to the live music and now pool tables dominate the pub's front room.

At times the Irish pubs in Toronto double as Irish community centers. This is especially true at the Galway Arms, a pub with perhaps an undeserved reputation as a political hangout. While I found no evidence to either support or contradict this notion, I did find a notice for a golf tournament and a baby's change table in the women's washroom. One of the regulars told me that they hold baptisms and various other community parties at this pub and, to prove the friendliness of the people in the place, he even invited me to the pub's annual pig roast. The pub proved to be a friendly place for locals to unwind and have a pint of Guinness.

While some say they would not drink a Guinness that was not poured in Ireland, others seem perfectly happy with the imported version poured in Toronto. The fellow who spoke to me at Galway Arms told me some interesting tidbits about the Guinness in Ireland during the years of the two World Wars.

This deep coffee colored brew is thought to be quite nutritious and full of iron. It was rationed to pregnant women, and young, anemic girls were given Guinness when their iron count was low. Some call Guinness "mother's milk" and if you started to drink it when you were young enough, it was considered the ultimate comfort food.

Pouring a Guinness to obtain that perfect, thick and creamy head is something of an art form. I've even seen detailed instructions on how to do it properly. The best Guinness that was poured for me - and, no it didn't take me a very long time to acquire a taste for it, in spite of what I was told - was at McMurphy's.

McMurphy's is a tiny place that, so I'm told, comes closest to resembling a real Irish pub in Ireland. It has only a few small tables and a dominating solid wooden bar with numerous stools around it. Like McVeigh's, the stools at McMurphy's are occupied mostly by gents with colorful Irish accents.

In fact, while at McVeigh's I met the occasional Scot (I'm told it's because the music at McVeigh's comes closest to the music in Scotland). I also found a few men who spoke with strong English accents. The camaraderie I witnessed here, in this small selection of Toronto's Irish pubs, remains promising.

So whether you are Scottish, English, Portuguese, Chinese, German, Nigerian, Mexican, Pakistani or any other human being you can always make your way to a friendly Irish pub in your city and “ol, ceol agus craic” or drink, sing and have fun! ,

Photographer, Robert Teteruck is currently the senior photographer at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. He has exhibited his work in various galleries in Toronto including the Power Plant, the Ryerson Gallery and the City of Toronto’s Market Gallery. His photographs have been published by numerous journals and newspapers including Time, Macleans, The Globe & Mail, The Toronto Star and Descant. His work is included in a number of collections including The Art Gallery of Ontario study collection and The City of Toronto Archives.

© 2000 Studio Q Int'l Inc./Urban Mozaik Magazine™ All rights reserved. The images and text on this website cannot be reproduced in part or in whole without written permission from Urban Mozaik Magazine.

Some of Toronto's Irish Pubs:

McVeigh's New Windsor Irish Tavern
124 Church St.
Live music six nights a week throughout the year

James Gate Pub
1663 Bloor St. West
No live music

Galway Arms
838 The Queensway
Live music Friday and Saturday nights

McMurphy's
381 Eglinton Ave. East
Live music sporadically throughout the winter

The Irish Rose Pub
1095 Weston Rd.
Live music Friday and Saturday throughout the year

Irish Rovers Pub
2 Villiers St.
Live music Thursday and Friday throughout the year and Saturday and Sunday afternoons throughout the summer

Cassidy’s Pub & Eatery
2856 Danforth Ave.
Live music Friday and Saturday throughout the year

Fionn MacCool’s Irish Pub
70 The Esplanade
Live music Wednesday to Saturday throughout the year

Allen’s
143 Danforth Ave.
Live music Tuesday and Saturday throughout the year

P.J. O’Brien
39 Colborne St.
No live music

James Joyce Irish Pub
386 Bloor St. West
Live music every night throughout the year

Dora Keogh Irish Pub
141 Danforth Ave.
Live music Thursday and Sunday throughout the year

Scruffy Murphy’s Irish Pub
150 Eglinton Ave. East
Live music Thursday and Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons throughout the year.