Lucky you

B y Ma RC Tia R

ceol pours an authentic pint of guinness.

Photo/jeri chadwell-singley

A guide to Irish bars in the Truckee Meadows

EEveryone is getting fired up about immigration, but we are a nation of immigrants regardless of your feelings about people coming here. Most of us have roots elsewhere—often

Europe—from the British pilgrims to the waves of Germans, Czechs and others who followed. Thanks to that melting pot, much of our culture is imported, including our drinking culture.

And what’s one of the first cultures you think of when you think of drinking? Ah, yes, one of the last socially semi-acceptable stereotypes of an ethnic group, that of the imbibing Irishman. But it’s not just a stereotype— statistically the average Irish adult does drink significantly more than the average American. Studies look at everything from the Catholic church to the dreary weather to explain why the Irish drink more, but in their defense, they aren’t even in the top 10 among countries. (Look to Eastern Europe and former Soviet republics for that.)

As you look at what it is about Ireland that drives people to drink, a history rife with poverty, starvation and persecution could seem likely, but those are just as likely reasons people leave the Emerald Isle. Of course, in a drinking culture dating back centuries, there are traditions, and for the Irish, the pub is part of the social fabric—the oldest one in the country was pouring for five centuries before Columbus landed here. So take an ancient institution of a people with an appetite for alcohol, in a country with a long, harsh history that makes people leave, and you see the worldwide spread of the Irish pub.

There are some of the genuine article— real, straight-from-the-homeland Irish migrants who settle abroad and offer a bit of Irish cheer and entrepreneurship in the form of a watering hole like those they left behind. Others are little more than regular bars with a splash of green, an Irish flag, and some Guinness swag. Often, whether you’re in Tokyo, Barcelona or Istanbul, it’s a business with a theme, like a Mexican restaurant or vaguely Japanese sushi bar, and little, if any, genuine Irishness behind it.

Over the last few decades, the potential revenue of the Irish “brand” for business has become clear. A cottage industry now exists in turnkey “Irish” bars anywhere on Earth. Companies such as Dublin’s Irish Pub Company, partnering with Irish beer giant Guinness’ Irish Pub Concept initiative, have helped local owners open over 8500 Irish bars in 152 countries. Budding publicans can choose from several designs, such as the Victorian, Gaelic or Country Cottage, depending on the market and owner’s desires. Authentic Irish decor, from musical instruments to furniture, complete the vision.

I’ve seen the appeal when traveling— like Starbucks or McDonalds, if you’ve been struggling with a language barrier, homesick for the food and drink of home after days or weeks of sampling exotic local fare, stumbling into an Irish bar can be a glorious thing, a sort of crossroads of international travelers united in their want of familiar food, drink and experience.

Locally, we’ve largely dodged the “instant Irish pub.” Dating back to the height of the Comstock boom, Northern Nevada has had its share of Irish immigrants settling here. Hardworking Irish miners extracted much of the silver in Virginia City, at one time forming up to a third of that city’s population. Some of the most influential figures in Nevada history such as John Mackay and Pat McCarran come from Irish stock.

Of course, you can’t discuss bars and the Irish this month without addressing the elephant in the room, St. Patrick’s Day. Leave it to us Americans to take a relatively quiet Catholic holiday from Ireland and turn it into a huge excuse to get wasted. Reno

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naturally embraces this holiday, from longpast days of parades downtown and late night shenanigans painting Virginia Street’s middle stripe green to more recent years shutting down Vesta Street and crawling Wells Avenue. The traditions continue and evolve today as bars come and go, owners change and trends rise and fall. Most bars with any slight Irishness to them will take the opportunity to have a huge celebration, let the Guinness flow, and pack the house.

One final American St. Patrick’s Day tradition to comment upon: green beer. It’s not a new practice. It was first done in 1914. However, brewers work hard to make beer a lovely beer color already. Green beer is perhaps only slightly more appealing than a Halloween black-bunned Whopper. If you want to pretend to be Irish this month, stick to Guinness, Harp or Jameson in the hues their creators made them. Ω

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For your local Irish fix, whether celebrating St. Patrick’s Day or the rest of the year, you have some choices in our area:

• Ryan’s Saloon and Broiler, 924 S. Wells Ave., 323-4142, is an old-school Wells

Avenue bar with a decent menu of pub food. • O’Skis Pub & Grille, 840

Victorian Ave., Sparks, 359-7547, is pretty much a Sparks institution after 16 years in business. It’s heavily Irish themed, plus it has a touch of Polish from the owners and a better-than-average food menu. • Paddy and Irene’s Irish

Pub, 906 Victorian Ave.,

Sparks, 359-1594, was formerly owned by a real

Irishman in a different location. Now, it’s a basic bar with a slight

Irish theme. • Shea’s Tavern, 715 S.

Virginia St., 786-4774., is a midtown landmark that’s

Irish in name and signage, but it’s basically a dive bar, often with live bands. • O’Cleary’s, 1330 Scheels

Drive, Sparks, 359-1209, is unique by virtue of its bowling lanes. This polished venue at Legends in Sparks is as much restaurant as bar, including some Irish influenced dishes. It’s owned by a

California “management group.” • Ceol Irish Pub, 538 S.

Virginia St., 329-5558, is probably the most Irish of all, regularly featuring live traditional Irish music, an epic St. Patrick’s Day celebration, and the best selection of Irish alcohol. • Filthy McNasty’s, 1718

Holcomb Ave., 622-3208, is another midtown dive with a bit of Irish decor situated in Reno’s St. Patrick’s Day hub, near Wells Avenue.

And any column on Irish bars and Reno would be incomplete without a mention of these longtime fixtures that are no more:

• Corrigan’s Bit O’Ireland, was part of the Wells

Avenue tradition. This landmark Reno bar closed recently after 30 years in business. • Mr. O’s was a historic

Virginia Street bar. Owner

Paul O’Gorman and his wife provided a free corned beef dinner for customers every St. Patrick’s Day for over a decade. Ω