Irish Pub

After 35 years of working hard at dining unnoticed, I feel compelled to report that I failed at The Plough & The Stars. But the very fact that Marion Ryder, furiously busy tending to a large holiday party at The Plough & The Stars, could look up from her work and spot me as I breezed past on a recent weeknight says something about Ryder and her pub. The Dublin-born Ryder is a hard-working floor manager/partner (with Jerome Donovan and Austin...

There's an interesting story on the menu at the new John Patrick's Ale House in Old City. It tells the tale of John Patrick Murphy, third generation Irish-American, born and raised in this historic part of town. Murphy, the story goes, dreamed of one day opening an Irish pub in his neighborhood. He married, had a son, and then was a Union soldier during the Civil War. He spent his quiet time sketching his vision of the pub he would build when he got home. But his dream was not to become reality.

A new plan would return the spirits of the past, both sentimental and alcoholic, to an aging Richboro landmark. A Warrington man hopes to open an Irish-style pub in the Spread Eagle Inn after the oldest part of the 19th-century building is moved to make room for a gas station. Insurance agent Brian Sheehan outlined his pub proposal to historians Wednesday, after they received official word from Amoco of the oil company's plans to move the Spread Eagle 300 feet from its current location at Almshouse Road and Second Street Pike.

What's in a name? When it comes to competing Irish bars and restaurants in Center City, a name apparently is worthy of a knock-down and costly legal battle. So much so that owners of the two Irish Pubs on Walnut Street this week filed suit in federal court against owners of a new tavern, the Irish Bards, at 2013 Walnut St. The "Irish" in the Irish Bards has to go, the lawsuit insists, alleging trademark infringement and unfair competition. The Irish Pub at 2007 Walnut St., now in its second decade of dispensing stouts and whiskeys and lamb stews, happens to be "one door down," about 60 feet away from the Irish Bards, which opened last November and advertises itself as "Philadelphia's First Authentic Irish Bar and Restaurant.

When asked to defend her line "a rose is a rose is a rose," Gertrude Stein said that after hundreds of years of roses in poetry and prose the redness had gone out of the rose. She was restoring redness to the rose. As she spanned all the years of this century, Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, who was buried on Tuesday, gave new luster to the name "Rose," to the two clans of Kennedys and Fitzgeralds, and to the saga of America. Family, religion, and politics intertwined in her life as they do in the commemoration of her death.

Delilah's Dolls, the Conchester Highway nightclub whose topless dancing spurred pickets, lawsuits and ultimately a court injunction, is about to be replaced by an Irish pub. Grogan's Pub could open as early as tonight, said operator Michael Grogan, 58, of Brookhaven. He said that he had signed a five-year lease for the property and that his Irish-style pub would include televised sporting events, a game room and weekly live music. "I'm not going to do anything like they did," Grogan said, alluding to the topless acts at Delilah's.

Top of the evening to you, lads and lasses. It's time to take a wee bit of a stroll along the Shore's Irish pub circuit. Interestingly, the two best Erin-go-bars are located just a Blarney stone's throw from each other. The oldest is McGuire's Erin Bar, South Tennessee Avenue and the Boardwalk, Atlantic City; 609-345-9607. The 85-year-old landmark, with its no-frills decor and friendly ambience, actually is more than just a bar. "This also is a social welfare center for European students," explained bartender/entertainer Mairti O'Sligeach, who hails from the Emerald Isle.

Another fun weekend at the Shore is here, and the club scene is hotter than ever. But if you happen to feel like chilling a bit, the Downtown Bistro at the Irish Pub (St. James Place at the Boardwalk, Atlantic City; 609-344-9063) has some cool offerings. The adorable outdoor patio, where even the trash cans are cute, recently became the site of weekly karaoke nights, now Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 to midnight. (No cover charge.) T-shirts and souvenir mugs are awarded to everyone willing to get up and make complete fools . . . er, sing their favorite tunes.

Brittingham's on Germantown Pike is more than just a seafood restaurant and Irish pub. It's a piece of history, in continuous use since 1743. Some swear that the place is haunted. Legend has it that the devil himself used to peer in the window whenever there was any card-playing going on. Then there are the stories about how the place was a watering hole for George Washington, the Marquis de Lafayette and their platoons of Continental soldiers during the Revolutionary War. Brittingham's, now observing its 250th birthday with events throughout the year, was called The Trooper at its birth.

It's official: With 21 games remaining in this seemingly endless season, the 76ers have run out of excuses for losing. "I have nothing to say," guard Hersey Hawkins said after last night's ugly, 94-89 loss to the Washington Bullets, the Sixers' 18th loss in their last 21 outings. "I've said it all before. This game was nothing new or different. "We've had a million excuses for why we've lost games. If you guys (reporters) come up with a new one, let me know. " Hawkins then was told that coach Fred Carter said the Sixers lacked the "will to win. " "Have we used that one before?