'People would be sad to see it go': Ex-Cork hurler in Boston battles developers to save Irish pub

Cork publican Gerry Hanley is battling developers to save Paddy Barry’s pub in Boston — can this Irish institution survive?

Gerry Hanley owns Paddy Barry’s pub in Quincy, around 15km from downtown Boston, which first opened in 1998.

A Cork man who runs a pub just outside Boston, Massachusetts, is locked in a legal battle as property developers seek to clear him out to make way for a housing development.

Shanbally native Gerry Hanley owns Paddy Barry’s pub in Quincy, around 15km from downtown Boston, which first opened in 1998.

The former Cork minor hurler moved to the US 40 years ago at a time of major emigration from Ireland to the United States and found a ready-made clientele among the Irish who had travelled over to work in big numbers.

While the pints of Guinness are still flowing in Paddy Barry’s for this cohort, a younger American-born generation has also begun to frequent the venue post-covid.

A typical Irish pub, its walls have a particular red tint with numerous photos of Cork sporting successes over the years.

However, the future of the pub is in doubt, due to the current legal battles. Local newspaper The Patriot Ledger has reported on the plans for more than 200 residential units and a further 12,000 sq feet of retail space on the block where the pub lies in central Quincy.

“The building is scheduled to be knocked,” Mr Hanley said. “But we have a five-year extension on our lease. But they’re refusing to recognise it.

“They’re saying your lease is invalid, and we’re saying it’s not. It’s going to go to court. We’re pretty confident.” 

In November, The Ledger reported that lawyers for the developer sought to dismiss the case in court as they argued an extension option in the existing lease was invalid. The judge, however, disagreed and said the pub owner’s allegations “plausibly support an entitlement to relief”.

When the Irish Examiner visited the pub earlier this year, further court battles potentially lay ahead.

Irish people who live locally and frequent the bar said they hoped it would remain where it is into the future. They also praised the owner, who has previously been awarded Quincy’s Irishman of the year.

Mr Hanley said the uncertainty surrounding the situation was making it difficult, and going down the court route was also expensive.

“But I think we’ll get sorted,” he said. 

A lot of people would be sad to see it go as we’re one of the very last remaining pubs, really.

Away from the pub’s future, he said there had been a turning point in terms of the different generations of Irish in America around the start of the 2000s.

“I came in 1985,” he said, “That was kind of the start of it. By ‘87, ‘88, things were bad in Ireland at the time as well. The place was flooded.

“We would be packed when I opened here in ‘98. Every day was busy. Because there was so much work as well.

“[After 9/11], it definitely was harder to open a bank account. It was harder. And then things picked up [in Ireland], there was no need for guys to come.”