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A Bit of Ireland Comes to Annapolis
 | | David A. Colburn | | Gary Robertson pours a pint at Sean Donlon's Irish Pub & Restaurant. |
What brings me out for a pint on a rainy, chilly night like this? asks the husky bald guy sitting next to me at Sean Donlon’s, a crowded, smoky pub that hugs a narrow brick street not far from the capital’s government buildings. It’s a curiosity about the Irish I tell him, as I reach for my foamy Guinness.
He nods, and I notice he’s nursing a ubiquitous American beer – Bud Light – even though a slew of Irish ales and stouts are on tap. I ask him about other Irish pubs nearby and he tells me they’re all good.
A steady rain pelts the pub’s plate-glass window, and for a moment I almost believe I am sitting in a pub on an alley off Grafton Street in Dublin. But this isn’t the Irish capital; it’s Annapolis.
Whatever is fueling it – the Celtic Tiger, perhaps – Annapolis is having an Irish moment. Named after a former Irish ambassador to the U.S., Sean Donlon’s is one of three Irish-owned or operated bars in the city’s compact historic district. The Irish influence doesn’t end there.
On Main Street, a busy thoroughfare that slopes down to the harbor, Avoca Handweavers, a shop of Irish-woven sweaters and clothing and gifts, has been a mainstay for more than a decade. And just a block or two from Sean Donlon’s is The O’Callaghan Hotel, an Irish-owned-and-operated upscale hotel that opened in April.
Why Annapolis? Its waterfront and maritime heritage, as well as its narrow, brick streets and historic buildings – none more than two or three stories high – are reminiscent of popular Irish coastal towns, especially Kinsale in County Cork. Situated on Ireland’s southern coast, Kinsale – not unlike Annapolis – is a popular retreat for sailing, yachting, fishing, diving, and windsurfing.
“Annapolis has a lot of sister-city types in Ireland. It really reminded me of an Irish town,” says Vincent Quinlan, a Dublin native who worked a host of jobs in the U.S. before opening Castlebay Irish Pub on Main Street four years ago. “At the time, there were no genuine Irish bars here. I thought I would bring a little bit of Ireland to Annapolis. You know, the Irish like to go into the hospitality business. We’re good with people. We’re either politicians or pub owners.”
Quinlan, whose voice still carries traces of an Irish brogue, tapped craftsmen from the Old Country to help recreate the pub he envisioned. Custom-designed stained glass is prominent in the small foyer and dining room. Over-sized portraits of Irish literary greats James Joyce, Samuel Beckett and George Bernard Shaw dominate the dining room. Linen white and moss green walls frame the mahogany bar and tables, creating a welcoming ambiance.
“There’s a lot of money in Ireland right now,” Quinlan says when asked about the proliferation of Irish businesses in Annapolis. “The Irish economy has improved unbelievably in the last 20 years, and the Irish are spreading their wings a little bit more than they did before. Annapolis is a quaint, historic, neat town and has a lot of attractiveness for entrepreneurs.”
About the same time Quinlan launched his restaurant and pub, Galway Bay opened in the former Little Campus Inn, an Annapolis institution, on Maryland Avenue. Its owner and managers – all natives of Ireland – worked together at several Washington, D.C., and northern Virginia establishments before going into business for themselves.
With its green trim and awnings with gold lettering and its white stone façade, Galway Bay looks like it was plunked straight from Ireland’s West Coast and transplanted in Annapolis. The restaurant’s owner – Michael Galway of Thomastown, County Kilkenny – and his crew spent nearly five months renovating the building. The contemporary dining room features exposed brick walls and beamed ceilings. Irish artifacts and antiques and prints of famous Dublin scenes adorn the walls.
“We bring in as much from Ireland as possible,” says Sean Lynch, Galway’s manager who hails from Cork.
He’s talking about more than décor and fixtures.
“We bring in Irish soda bread mix and bake it here. We have Irish sodas, mustards, whiskey, Guinness, mineral water and Irish breakfast tea. That’s an indication of how serious we are about what we’re doing,” he says. “We’re about food first. We thought we could show there’s more to Irish cuisine than Guinness.”
The menu’s biggest sellers are the traditional fish and chip and Shepherd’s Pie. But most of the Irish fare has been given a contemporary twist. The standard potato pancake, for instance, is topped with grilled eggplant, Portabello mushrooms, onions, and peppers and finished with a tomato basil sauce and Provolone cheese.
Unlike many American bars, Galway’s has no TVs. “We have a genuine interest in our customers,” Lynch explains.
The small bar has a slate floor, high ceilings and dark wood. Antiques and farm tools decorate the walls.
“It’s what you might find in Ireland,” Lynch says. “The tile floor and others facets here you would find in a bar in Ireland. People have told us it’s just like a pub they’ve been to in Galway or Cork. It’s got a small, cozy feeling.”
When asked about the influx of Irish bars and businesses in Annapolis, Lynch is silent for a moment, and then says, “It’s a very nice town. It reminded us of Ireland. It’s very much like Ireland, but it’s also an attractive, affluent community. It’s close to two big cities --Baltimore and D.C. – and it’s close for day-trippers. There’s no point in opening a bar in the desert if nobody’s there.”
Although Avoca distributes its beautifully woven sweaters, scarves, capes and throws products all over the world as a wholesaler, Annapolis is its only retail store outside of Ireland – others in Victoria, British Columbia, and Greenwich, Conn., have closed. The Main Street boutique, which also sells a variety of Irish gifts – everything from Guinness mugs and glasses to Waterford Crystal -- opened 12 years ago and remains vital because of the strong tourist trade in Annapolis.
“The affiliation with Ireland and Irish heritage is so huge here,” says NAME, store manager who relocated from County Wicklow nearly three years ago. “Ninety-five percent of the people who come in here are of Irish descent. Americans are more interested in their heritage than other people. There used to be a stigma attached to things ‘Irish,’ but there isn’t anymore. People now associate the Irish with quality, tradition and enjoyment.”
For the newly arrived Irish, Avoca and the pubs have been a welcoming presence.
“We were quite amazed to walk down Main Street and see Avoca,” says Lesley Pattison, marketing director of The O’Callaghan Hotel, the Dublin-based Six Continents Hotels first property in the United States.
“There’s definitely a lot of interest in Ireland and Irish culture here. There’s a lot of water and a lot of the Irish make their living from the water or land. It’s something in tune with many Irish.”
Like the proprietors of Galway Bay, The O’Callaghan Hotel is taking Irish hospitality to new levels. The five-story hotel – Annapolis first downtown hotel in more than two decades – boasts the ambiance of a fine European inn, with floor-length drapes, patterned carpets in rich blues and golds and reds, and hand-crafted furniture – all of it imported from Ireland. Pattison and much of the hotel staff, including general manager John Clesham, hail from the Emerald Isle.
“Many people’s impressions of Ireland is an Irish pub,” Pattison says. “It’s friendly, fun and hearty food. But there’s a new Irishness. Dublin is one of the hottest capitals in Europe. We’re more like the new age in Dublin. People are demanding more conveniences and better service. That’s what we’re doing here. We’re the new Ireland.”
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