Eire Pub

Dorchester / Jamaica Plain, Boston –

Since the early 1960s, Eire Pub has been serving up cheap eats and pints of Guinness to generations of unhurried blue-collar locals and even a few past presidents.

Originally a gentlemen’s prestige bar – ladies were not allowed – the unassuming watering hole has since discarded its old rules, although the green marquee still proclaims it a “Men’s Bar.”

Sports memorabilia, vintage photos, and press clippings adorn most of the wood-paneled walls, including highlights of the times Presidents Reagan and Clinton visited when they were first campaigning.

The area’s large Irish population means that thickly accented conversation usually spills from the small tables and booths around the perimeter, and it’s not uncommon to find local policemen and firefighters indulging in some off-duty pints at the long center bar, or multiple members of the same family cheering on the Sox on TV.

Despite the continued prevalence of men, Eire is well-known in Dorchester for its community atmosphere, as the older regulars always seem eager to educate newcomers, male and female alike, about the bronze Clinton and Reagan plaques by the bar – perhaps noting that both former presidents won Massachusetts after stopping by.

Many politicians carry on the tradition of visiting Eire Pub during campaign season, but most of the time it’s content to remain a warm neighborhood hangout where all are welcome to put up their feet and stay a while.