The bar had started in 1964, and we were saying, “It’s been around for 47 years, so why don’t we get involved in this and get it past 50?” We took over the bar in 2011, and we’re still here. This is the 60th year. A lot has changed. A lot has stayed the same, but one of the biggest draws to Irish Haven, to me, has always been the true pub living room feeling. When you come in, you have co-conspirators. There’s live music playing. The bartender has maybe whipped up some food. That’s the feeling. 

How did Covid affect Irish Haven? 

When Covid hit exactly four years ago, we completely shut down, along with the rest of the world. We had to reimagine our business and focus on selling novelty stuff — beanies and hoodies and Carhartt hats with the Irish Haven logo on them. We were on the news because I was making deliveries with 64-ounce growlers of beer. We’ve been shepherded into this new era, after Covid, and we’re trying to find our way back.

A lot of the Irish bars I come across are plastered with shamrocks and leprechauns, green beer and other gimmicks. What does authenticity mean to you, and how do you remain “authentic”?

The bar itself has changed very little in the 20 years that I’ve been coming here. The TVs got updated to flatscreens, stools reupholstered with a swatch from the old stool, a new ceiling fan installed if it needs to be … This isn’t a place where there’s a leprechaun limerick airbrushed on the wall. We’re not in the business of selling “Little Ireland” to people. There were 20 bars like this, 25 years ago, in this neighborhood, and now there’s, like, 2. As the bar business changed, people moved to different neighborhoods, and as the neighborhood changed, businesses changed. Irish Haven survived. The Haven really became the haven, in a way, for a lot of Irish people.

Why did Irish Haven survive? I believe, personally, that it’s because of the sense of community. And it didn’t hurt that it was on the corner of a busy subway station. We’re not trying to sell “pub” to people. My bartender behind the bar right now is Dominican. My bartender Jane, who’s been here for 25+ years, is English and married to a guy from Bray in Wicklow. We’re sort of a melting pot for this neighborhood. We’ve had some marriages come out of the bar. I know five or six couples who have gotten married after meeting here. 

It’s an old bar. It has an old jukebox in it, but it also has an internet jukebox. There’s options for everybody, and the space can be flexible. The back room is a community room – I’ve had baby showers, paint nights, and Irish language lessons back there. 

Speaking of customers, who are they? Are they coming to you from Sunset Park or are they coming from elsewhere, as a destination? 

It’s a bit of both. They’re definitely coming from Bay Ridge and Sunset Park, which I would consider foot traffic. And then it’s certainly a contingent from Windsor Terrace, Park Slope, Gowanus. And then you have people who come from far away. I’m routinely surprised to find out that someone lives in Staten Island or New Jersey or Queens. 

We get savvy travelers who have decided that this is on their shortlist, and it’s one of the few bars they want to check out. We get some cinephiles who know that there have been feature films and television shows filmed here. 

I saw that there was a scene from “The Departed” that was filmed there. How does something like that come about? 

I wasn’t involved with the bar when “The Departed” was filmed here, but my business partner was around at the time, and we’ve all heard the lore of what happened. The movie was set in Boston, and it was Martin Scorcese’s first film to be shot outside of New York. There was an issue in Boston, and the production needed to go on strike. They came back to New York looking for an Irish bar that wasn’t, as we say in the Irish community, “teedly dee.” They showed up at another bar in Bay Ridge and thought that the space looked too much like it was in Ireland, and the bartender there sent them our way.

The location manager came in, and they loved the bar, so they brought in Martin Scorcese. The lore is that he walked in the front door and looked around and was like, “Okay, that’s it! I love it!” And he pointed to the bartender and said, “I want him to be the bartender!” That bartender got himself fired, but another bartender named Bob was in the movie. That was the first time something was filmed at the bar, and it was a really big deal for the bar and for the neighborhood.

Since then, I’ve had 15 or 16 music videos, commercials, television shows and movies filmed here. It came about because location scouts who had been on “The Departed” sent people our way whenever they were looking for an Irish bar. I realized that keeping that community aspect that we have toward everyone else for the production and film industry would keep them coming back. Every single location scout or production assistant, I’m going to know their name. I’m just saying ‘Yes’ to things until I can’t anymore.  

Nowadays, it seems like bars are doing so much to stand out. They’re half bookstores or half arcade or the floor is covered in sand. How do you stand out without the frills?

There’s a huge economic downturn in bars at the moment. People who are starting out are putting eggs in two baskets. I have a friend who used to run a tiki bar in Bushwick who spun that out to his employees, and he started a speakeasy called Ra Ra Rhino that’s in the back of a doughnut shop, Dromedary Doughnuts. That’s the kind of thing where I’m like, “That’s wild,” and I don’t ever question the guy because I know those two things can work off one another, but I know he’s thinking, “One of these is gonna stick.” That’s a hedge bet, and that’s the economy right now. 

Post-COVID, after people stayed home and bartended for themselves for a couple of years, or maybe for health reasons or budgetary reasons, people are not going out and buying rounds for their neighbors. You have to work harder to convince people to go out. 

Why do we stand out? It comes back to this idea that you can’t buy old. If you start a new bar, you can’t put a patina on it or add character to it.

Where do you see the bar going in the next months, years, decades?

There are definitely moments where we worry about rent going up, along with the cost of doing business. Anytime I get a letter from people that we do business with, it’s telling me that everything is going up 5% and there’s now a delivery fee. Gone are the days when a beer company would come in and drop neon signs on you – you have to ask them for coasters now. I don’t own the building, and it’s not my grandfather’s bar. It’s a business. My hope is that people will continue to come in and have their small life achievements celebrated. My friend, JJ, became a US citizen on Friday. He and his wife spent the day with their 1-year-old daughter, and then they spent the night here. The same night, there was a band playing live, traditional Irish music. As long as those organic things keep happening, and we can stay attuned to people’s life moments, that’s going to keep my business alive. 

What is your drink of choice? 

We have these small mugs, in addition to the pints, that are a dollar or two cheaper. In the last dozen years or so, there are fewer people who want to have a small mug of beer – people want a whole pint or a bottle. There’s a couple of the mugs around, and I drink either a Smithwick’s, a kölche or an IPA – usually a beer – out of a cold mug. That way, I know that it’s mine if I have to step away and take care of something else. 

St. Patrick’s Day is coming up this weekend. What’s going on at Irish Haven?

We’re doing St. Patrick’s Day on Saturday and Sunday because the parade is on Saturday in the city, so we’re treating both days as the holiday. We’ll have corned beef and sandwiches, traditional style. We’re also having a band here, a cover band for the Irish-American rock band, The Pogues, on Saturday. Shane MacGowan [the Pogues’ lead vocalist] passed away last year on the heels of Sinead O’Connor’s death, so the Irish community was hit double-hard. It’s going to be cathartic for some people in the room. So from 7:00-10:00 pm on Saturday, we’ll have a massive band with a horn section. It should be a lot of fun. On Sunday, we’ll have food out and a DJ from 6:00-11:00 pm.

I know Irish Haven is primarily a bar, but I’d be remiss not to ask about the food. 

On Thanksgiving Eve, we give away food – four or five trays of turkey and all the fixings. On any given day, there’s always a pizza box open on the kitchen bar, and we have a fully-functioning old-school kitchen. Our friends who own Baba’s Pierogies in Gowanus might be driving by with a couple of trays of pierogies that haven’t been spoken for, so if you’re sitting here, you might end up with a plate full of pierogies. It’s always been that kind of place, and that kind of warms your cold, dark heart.