Tradition evergreen at Duffy's
By Michael Stock
Staff Reporter
Duffy's is one of the few Irish
bars in Lincoln. And Sunday night
will find everyone sharing in at
least one proud Irish tradition —
the celebration of St. Patrick's Day.
St. Patrick's day is regarded as
second only to New Year's Eve for
drinkers' amateur night, Duffy's
owner, Reg McMeen offered.
"It really is. People who come
out and dnnk twice a year... they
get real drunk on New Year's Eve
and kind of drunk on St. Patrick's
Day, because they're still dealing
with their hangover from New
Year's Eve," McMeen said.
"Of course, professional drink
ers like us don t have any trouble
with that," joked not-so-silerit co
worker, Red Tolnai.
Red jokes a lot.
Duffy's was swept into exis
tence in 1938 by Jonn Wilhelm.
(Note the strictly Irish surname.)
Created originally as a soda shop,
Duffy's holds the second-oldest
liquor license in Lincoln.
"Basically, I think everybody
was just hopping on the band
wagon because prohibition was
over and they wanted to start
making some money on liquor...
legally. It was a soda shop prior to
being a bar. I guess there was some
kind of ... gin mill activity going
on here, or something," McMcen
said.
So why call it Duffy's?
"It was basically a tie-in to
probably try and get a large por
tion of the drinking populace in.
There is certainly a correlation
between Irish people and drink
ing. So I think it was more of a
propaganda tool than anything.
"TXiffy's is a real traditional
name for bars. If you go to a com
munity of any longevity at all, most
of them have a Duffy’s. There's a
Duffy's in Omaha, Colorado
Springs ... Ireland. It's just a real
traditional name," McMeen said.
One working partner and two
silent partners nave owned Duffy's
for nearly four-and-a-half years,
McMeen said.
Taking time off from school,
McMeen was working at a now
defunct bar as bartender, but was
dissatisfied with his position.
"They were sucking us dry for
ideas and not giving us any mone
tary compensation. So I took my
$3.01 an hour and left that joint in
search of a better and more lucra
tive opportunity," McMeen said.
Looking into various avenues
of entertainment, McMeen con
sidered several different options
for opening his own business. But
nothing seemed to offer the right
option.
"Just when we were about ready
to give up on the idea, our real
estate agent said ... '1 don't know
if you're interested in just a regu
lar old bar, but there's this bar on
O street for sale.' The next day wc
were down here taking a look at it
and about two weeks after that we
were signing papers to get in it,"
McMeen saia.
With Harp and Guinness beers
on tap, and Bushmen and Jameson
whiskeys behind the bar, Duffy's
takes its Irishness seriously.
"I'd like to think that even
though Duffy's wasn't set up to be
an 'Irish tavern,' that we've done
what we can to . . . validate it a
little bit," McMeen said. "W'e've
tried what we can to at least pro
vide for those people in the com
munity who feel ultimately tied to
Ireland."
But St. Patrick's Day does not
find only the true Irish out for a
celebratory drink. St. Patrick's Day
finds nearly everyone out celebrat
ing something.
And what does McMeen think
about that?
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Lincoln pubs and Taverns 1
"St. Patrick's Day has been so
bastardized by the Americans (that)
it's really hard to distinguish Irish
tradition from what America wants
it to be. It's a drunken brawl here,
and in Ireland, it's a national holi
day," McMeen said.
bo why come to Duffy's for St.
Patrick's Day?
"What a stupid question that
is!" Red Tolnai screamed and of
fered a comprehensive list of vi
able answers.
"First, because I'll be here for
one. Second, where else are you
probably going to see the prettiest
girls and the ugliest guys? Third,
it you can't get laid on St. Patrick's
Day, when can you get laid? Fourth,
green beer. Fifth, Barb (Burke) will
be here. Eighth, where else are
you going to go? We're going to
open at noon. You could go to the
Rail for inane con versa tion, or you
could come here..Tolnai chuck
led, actually liking the non-Irish
Brass Rail.
As I said, Red jokes a lot.
Somewhere around sixth or
seventh on Tolnai's list comes the
highlight of Duffy's St. Pat's cele
bration, when Tolnai strips to his
shamrock boxers on the shuffle
board table at midnight.
"This year I've got something
special ... if you want to come
down. They took pictures last year.
The pictures are startling/' Tolnai
chortled.
It isn't just the green beer and
jello shots that malce Duffy's the
true Irish hot »pot on St. Pat's Day.
It's the people.
Tolnai said that "Judy's work
ing, and she's the best bartender
in Lincoln. Judy can handle more
customers than ..."
"God?" asks barmaid, Barb
Burke.
"Well, God can handle a few
more — but Jesus for sure ... "
Toinai offered.
"If nothing else, there is always
someone at Du ffy's who can quote
Yeats at any given time/' Burke
promised.
Isn't that as good of reason as
any to celebrate St. Pat's at Duffy's?
Everyone comfortable at Duggan's
By Pat Dinslage
Senior Editor
Despite the Irish name, Dug
gan's Pub, 410 S. 11th St., is not
what you would call an "Irish"
bar.
There are no year-round sham
rocks or pictures of leprechauns
decorating the walls. Tne lighted
signs, ad vertising just about every
kind of beer you can think of, do
that.
There's no "Danny Boy" or
"When Irish Eyes are Smilin'" on
the jukebox. Instead, there seems
to be just about every oldie rock or
folk album that ever went gold.
There are no stereotypical
drunken Irishmen or women hold
ing forth about the beauties of the
land of Eire.
Who is there is a real cross sec
tion of most all the groups who
call Lincoln home. There are the
bikers, the college students, the
blue-collar and wnite-collar work
ers, the suits-and-ties and the lat
est-in-casual-wcar yuppies. But
there's no rainbow-colored hair
or punk rock styles.
There are people dressed up
and dressed down. Men witn
beards and long hair hang out there,
asvvellasmcn withoutany hairon
their heads at all.
There are women in jeans and
sweat shirts and women in heels
and suitsand every mode of dress
in between.
The Pub docs not seem to dis
criminate on the basis of race, sex,
religion, ethnic origin or sexuai
preference, only on the basis of
age: You have to be 21.
A friend of mine who goes to
the Pub told me that it is one of
those old-fashioned bars: It's safe
tor a woman to walk in by herself
and not get bothered unless she
wants to tx?. I suppose the same
goes for men.
The Pub's atmosphere is like a
small-town bar. mere are the
regulars who hang out there. You
can tell they're tne regulars be
cause they call the bartenders by
name when they want a drink.
On a Friday night, there were
four bartenders serving drinks to
customers — three were behind
the bar and one bartender was
circulating around to the booths
and tables, socializing and mak
ing sure no one was going dry.
The owner, Jack Gross, knows what
his customers come into the Pub
for: drinks and fun.
Speaking of the drinks, they're
healthy. They're not expensive, but
not the cheapest in town cither. A
glass of beer is $.85; pitchers are $3
to $3.50. Mixed drinks run about
$2.
The Pub is a friendly bar and an
easy one in which to start a con
versation. If just sitting and drink
ing is not your style, there's the
games. T1 .e Pub has two pool tables,
a pinball machine and at least two
television sets. It should not sur
prise anyone if the TVs arc tuned
to some form of sports at all times.
That's the Pub on pretty much
any given weekend, according to
the bartenders and Gross. But
what's happening on St. Patrick's
Day in this non-Irish bar with the
Irish name?
Gross said the partying will
probably start Saturday, March
16, witn the biggest crowd on
Saturday evening. He is planning
to serve the traditional green beer
and peanuts, as he has for the last
13 years, both Saturday and Sun
day. He is expecting a "decent"
crowd on Sunday afternoon, but
not as many on Sunday evening.
St. Patrick's Day decorations
will be put up sometime this week,
Gross said, and a few traditional
Irish songs will be added to the
jukebox for those customers who
want to be Irish for the weekend.
Other than a somewhat larger than
normal crowd that he expects will
drift from bar to bar downtown, it
will be pretty much business as
usual.
However, St. Patrick's Day 1991
could be the beginning of nostal
gia. This will be the last St. Pat
rick's Day celebrated in the "old"
Pub.
Gross said he has bought an
other building just up the street
and the business will be moving to
the new location this summer. The
new place will be half-aeain the
size of the current Pub. He plans
to retain the "Duggan's Pub" as
part of the new name, however, he
said.
So if you want to witness the
end of an era, or drink green beer,
or be Irish for a weekend, or just
have a good time, make the Dug
gan's Pub one of your stops on the
grand St. Patrick's Day tour.
Irish eyes to smile at O'Rourke's
By Jim Hanna
Senior Reporter
With a name like O'Rourke's,
it's got to be Irish.
Whether it's the name or the
atmosphere, O'Rourke's Tavern
1329 O St., is bound to be packet
this St. Patrick's Day.
"It's our busiest day of the year/
said Jim, a friendly O'Rourke'!
bartender with no surname.
While there is nothing decid
edly Irish about the bar during the
rest of the year, St. Pat's at
O'Rourke's has a variety of festive
features.
In addition to green beer, the
‘ bar will be serving free corned
beef and cabbage. Jim also expects
a big run on Guinness and Harp
beer.
The fact that St. Patrick's Day
► falls on a Sunday this year will
pose no problem for Jim and his
■ co-workers. The bar will open at
noon and stay open until 1 a.m.
Since St. Patrick's day has fallen
on "school days" before without a
subsequent clientele loss, Jim said
he is not worried that people will
stay away from the bar on a tradi
tional day of rest.
For those students who choose
to drink heavily despite their
Monday academic conflicts, Jim
guarantees a heap o' Irish day fun.
"A good time will be had by
all," he said.
One O'Rourke s regular expects
to have a good time this Sunday.
.For Bob Holbert, this St. Patrick's
day will be especially fun and he
intends to celebrate at O'Rourke's.
"The woman I'm living with
will be out of town and I'm Irish
Catholic," he said.
On the other 364 days of the
year, O'Rourke's is one of the most
delightful bars in town. It's bound
to be one of the best bets in town
on St. Patrick's Day.
Distributors tap into Lincoln’s green beer market
Local beer distributors estimated how many kegs of green beer
they will sell for St. Patrick’s Day celebrations this weekend.
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