McSorley's Old Ale House

The title of “New York’s oldest bar” is a disputed one, with at least two other contenders claiming that title, but McSorley’s Old Ale House is certainly one of the city’s oldest, and among the city’s Irish pubs, it likely occupies the top spot. McSorley’s was established in 1854 by John McSorley, an immigrant from County Tyrone. McSorley was a curmudgeonly, eccentric man who refused to use a cash register and was prone to bouts of moody silence. He served just two drinks—light and dark ale—a tradition the bar maintains to this day. 

During McSorley’s time as proprietor, the bar hosted some of the most well-known figures of the day. Ulysses Grant stopped for a drink, as did heavyweight boxer John L. Sullivan and Tammy Hall politician “Boss Tweed.” Peter Cooper, founded of the Cooper Union, which is nearby, was a favorite of McSorley’s, and Cooper’s chair still survives. Abraham Lincoln also reportedly visited the pub after giving a speech at the Cooper Union. In addition to its famous clientele, McSorley’s also boasts a wide-ranging collection of historical memorabilia, including a wanted posted for John Wilkes Booth and an original campaign poster for Teddy Roosevelt.

McSorley continued to run the bar until his death in 1910, when it passed to his son, Bill, who had been sworn by his father never to change anything. Like his father, Bill resisted virtually any kind of modern amenity, including bookkeeping and bank accounts. He maintained his father’s ‘two-drink’ practice; both men were avid readers who were known for occasionally ignoring their patrons, so they developed the practice of serving two drinks at once, giving them time to indulge in their favorite pastime in between tending to empty glasses. Sawdust on the floor, a holdover from the elder McSorley’s day, was continued by Bill and remains a feature of the bar today. In the 1910s, soldiers who were about to be shipped out to serve in World War I would stop by the bar and leave a wishbone hanging from the bar’s gas lamps, with the promise that they would break them off when they returned from Europe. Many of those wishbones remain, sad relics of lives cut short in the trenches of Europe.

A number of McSorley’s regulars during Bill’s time were police officers. When Prohibition went into effect, McSorley chose to simply ignore the law and remained open. During that time, the bar officially served nonalcoholic beer, but allowed a retired brewer to brew beer in the basement, knowing that city officials would likely turn a blind eye.

In the 1930s, Bill McSorley sold the bar to a regular, a police officer named Daniel O’Connell. The bar changed hands with the stipulation that nothing be changed, and O’Connell kept the bar as it was. When he died, the bar passed to his daughter, Dorothy O’Connell Kirwan. Interestingly, McSorley’s had a policy of not serving women, so Dorothy made her husband, Harry, manager of the bar and kept out of it. In the 1980s, Harry Kirwan had car trouble in Ireland and a stranger stopped to help him. In gratitude, Kirwan offered the man, Matthew Maher, a job if he ever found himself in New York. Maher eventually took Kirwan up on the job offer and eventually purchased the bar after Kirwan's death. Maher's daughter, Teresa, currently runs the bar, which began allowing women in 1970, after a lawsuit.

Mitchell , Joseph. The Old House at Home , New Yorker. April 14th 1940. Accessed February 18th 2021. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1940/04/13/the-old-house-at-home

Murray, James and Karla . Urban Lens: McSorley's Old Ale House, NYC's Oldest Bar, 6sqft. March 10th 2017. Accessed February 18th 2021. https://www.6sqft.com/the-urban-lens-inside-mcsorleys-old-ale-house-nycs-oldest-bar/.

Spencer, Luke . The Wishbones of McSorley's Old Ale House, Atlas Obscura . Accessed February 18th 2021. https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-wishbones-of-mcsorley-s-old-ale-house-new-york-new-york.

Cobb, Geoffrey . McSorley's Old Ale House, Irish America. October 1st 2019. Accessed February 18th 2021. https://irishamerica.com/2019/10/mcsorleys-old-ale-house/.