The ground-floor bar and the 60-room inn above it are right out of "Boardwalk Empire." Heck, the HBO series could have been filmed there: The three foundations of Atlantic City's economy during the 1920s and early '30s - "booze, broads and gambling" - were easily available at what is now the Pub. And whenever anybody took a drink, placed a bet or had a roll in the hay, crime czar Enoch "Nucky" Johnson, whose life inspired the fictional HBO series, got a piece of the action.
But the most remarkable thing about the Irish Pub may be that it's still here, considering that only a handful of its peer structures avoided the bulldozer-happy redevelopment of Atlantic City after casinos were legalized in 1976. Its survival has everything to do with the Burkes, who assumed ownership in 1972 when the town was at its lowest pre-gambling point.
The first, failed attempt to bring legal gaming to Atlantic City was still two years away when the couple bought the property. Despite prevailing social and economic conditions, Atlantic City native Cathy Burke never doubted the Irish Pub, and her hometown, could succeed.
"It was just having a love for Atlantic City," said Burke, who also owns two Irish Pubs in Center City (at 1123 and 2007 Walnut St.). "As far as I'm concerned, Atlantic City is the most beautiful island in the world. I never saw [the decline]. I never saw what the outside world saw."
Today, the Irish Pub and its large, wooden wraparound bar sprawl around the property's first floor. There's also an outdoor patio. It looks the way an Irish saloon is supposed to look, with ambience and decor that Irish pub-style chains aspire to but never quite achieve.
