Visit Chief O'Neill's pub and learn about Irish culture and cuisine

[IRISH FOLK MUSIC] BRENDON MCKINNEY: Hello. Welcome to Chief O'Neill's. How are you?

SPEAKER 1: I'm good. How are you?

BRENDON MCKINNEY: Great, Great.

SPEAKER 1: Are you the owner?

BRENDON MCKINNEY: I am indeed.

SPEAKER 1: Nice, my name's Matt.

BRENDON MCKINNEY: Matt, Brendon.

SPEAKER 1: Nice to meet you, Brendon.

BRENDON MCKINNEY: Pleasure. Pleasure.

SPEAKER 1: Can you tell me a little bit of history about the pub?

BRENDON MCKINNEY: It's named after Chief O'Neill, who was a police chief in Chicago at the turn of the century. Our interest in him was the music. What Chief O'Neill would do is he would get top musicians that were coming out from Ireland, and he would get them jobs somewhere on the police force. And Sergeant James O'Neill would transcribe the music.

Because it's an oral tradition and hadn't really been written down. It's passed on orally, generation to generation.

Irish Folk Music by Chief O'Neill, Irish Minstrels and Musicians, which is great, because it has a lot of the pictures and the history of the different musicians. And this is Chief O'Neill's Music of Ireland. That's the book that he collected.

He realized that the whole diaspora of Irish music was in danger of disappearing. So he wrote one of the largest anthologies of the music. And he is credited globally as being the savior of Irish music.

SPEAKER 1: When you decorated this pub, was there inspiration from pubs in Ireland?

BRENDON MCKINNEY: Most of everything in here came from Ireland.

SPEAKER 1: OK.

BRENDON MCKINNEY: My wife is one of 10. I'm first generation. And we went over to Ireland and sourced a lot of it. And sourcing sounds a little more aloof than it really was because a lot of the bric-a-brac is literally taken out of old farms, sheds, and barns, basically, barn finds. But it's all part of the eclectic collection of old things. And it gives a true, genuine warmth and feel when you have nice old things around you, I think.

In the cabinet there is an Irish police, the Garda Siochana. And that's my uncle's. And he worked at the Aras an Uachtarain, which is, in Ireland, the Ireland's White House, the president's residence. So he was chief of security there.

SPEAKER 1: So you uncle lived and worked in Ireland.

BRENDON MCKINNEY: He did.

SPEAKER 1: Who would have thought pouring a pint was so scientific?

BRENDON MCKINNEY: Oh, it is, when it's done right. Perfect pint.

SPEAKER 1: Thank you. Thank you very much.

BRENDON MCKINNEY: There you go.

SPEAKER 1: Can you explain what a session is? I've heard that a few times in relation to playing music in a pub.

BRENDON MCKINNEY: Sure. A session's a very informal gathering. Usually, there's one or two anchor musicians who would have a greater repertoire of tunes. And they're just basically joined by other people who have the same passion, very unscripted, free-flowing.

SPEAKER 1: Does the local community participate in sessions here?

BRENDON MCKINNEY: Yeah, the whole Chicago and globally. And we have people come in. They come in from out of town. Chief O'Neill's is one of the places, for sure, that they would come in, and sit, and have a few tunes and a pint.

SPEAKER 1: So do you play yourself?

BRENDON MCKINNEY: I do. I do.

SPEAKER 1: You think you'll play for us later?

BRENDON MCKINNEY: Ah, you might be able to squeeze a tune out of me or so.

SPEAKER 1: Ah, great. Slainte.

BRENDON MCKINNEY: Slainte. Cheers.

SPEAKER 1: Cheers.

[PLAYING IRISH FOLK MELODY]

SPEAKER 2: Awesome.

[APPLAUSE]