St. Patrick\u2019s Day<\/a>, an Irish pub appeared one night beneath a basketball hoop in a suburban Massachusetts driveway.<\/p>\nNeighbors packed around the bar as music played and Guinness flowed \u2014 inside a tiny pub that had been towed in for the night.<\/p>\n
Instead of heading out to celebrate the holiday, the bar had come to them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Wee Irish Pub\u201d was delivered by Tiny Pubs, a small business run by brothers Matt and Craig Taylor, who build miniature Irish pubs on wheels for holidays, weddings and backyard parties across New England.<\/p>\n
Decorated with antique signs, church pews, an electric fireplace and a bar crafted from the front panel of an 1864 piano, the pubs recreate the feel of a traditional Irish pub \u2014 but are just small enough to fit in a driveway.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really just a time to forget about whatever\u2019s going on in the world,\u201d said Mark Cote, who hosted the pub in his Andover driveway last Friday. \u201cThat\u2019s what pubs are supposed to be \u2014 for people coming together and having fun.\u201d <\/p>\n
Around 20 people from five families \u2014 whose children grew up together \u2014 squeezed into the roughly 20-foot-long (6-meter) space for Cote\u2019s annual holiday party, creating what he said felt like a real neighborhood bar.<\/p>\n
The idea began during the COVID-19 lockdown, when the Taylor brothers \u2014 retired from careers in corporate finance \u2014 found themselves missing their favorite Irish pubs.<\/p>\n
The first version went up in Matt Taylor\u2019s driveway in Reading, 12 miles (19 kilometers) north of Boston.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we were building the pub in this neighborhood, neighbors thought a pub was going to be living here full time,\u201d he said. \u201cWe had to kind of settle them down a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n
They worked until about 1 a.m. the night before their first rental. Matt said he worried the windows might crack when they first towed it down the highway, but it went smoothly.<\/p>\n
What began as a pandemic project has since grown into a small business with four bars, including two Irish pubs, booked most weekends throughout the year.<\/p>\n
The brothers wanted the tiny bars to feel like real Irish pubs \u2014 not themed party props.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have Irish friends who told us, \u2018You better not have leprechauns and stuff in there,\u2019\u201d Craig Taylor said. \u201cSo we said, \u2018No \u2014 it\u2019s going to be authentic.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
They visited Irish pubs around New England while designing the interior, settling on classic colors like jasper green and Irish cream.<\/p>\n
Nearly every detail inside has a story, including the bar built from the front panel of an 1864 piano and church pews salvaged from a local church for seating.<\/p>\n
A pair of horseshoes from a farm in Ipswich hang above the door for luck: pointed down when guests enter and up when they leave.<\/p>\n
A hymn rack holds a book of Irish surnames where visitors mark their family names, sometimes with a dollar bill on the page, sparking conversations about ancestry.<\/p>\n
There are packages of Scampi Fries \u2014 a popular pub snack imported from Ireland \u2014 and a corkboard with patches from police and fire departments, a tradition common in pubs where first responders gather.<\/p>\n
Craig Taylor said one sign they got it right is when guests begin pointing things out inside \u2014 the Scampi Fries, a family name, a familiar song \u2014 moments when the experience shifts from something novel to something personal.<\/p>\n
Guinness has rented the Taylors\u2019 pubs for weeks at a time. They’ve also been used by a state senator during South Boston\u2019s St. Patrick\u2019s Day parade. The pubs have even been rented for celebrations of life after funeral services.<\/p>\n
Jarred Guthrie of Swampscott said his family has rented the original version for years now as part of a longtime annual St. Patrick\u2019s celebration.<\/p>\n
The party draws about 125 people, Guthrie said, with an Irish band playing inside the house while guests move between rooms, the pub and the waterfront yard overlooking the ocean.<\/p>\n
Guests crowd inside to take turns playing bartender, telling stories and breaking into songs \u2014 sometimes traditional Irish tunes or Gaelic lyrics that Guthrie said you rarely hear outside family gatherings.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople feel emboldened,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of singing that happens in that pub. It\u2019s a place where people naturally come together.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before each event, the brothers personalize the space with custom posters often designed with a family crest naming the host as the pub\u2019s temporary \u201cproprietor.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a special thing for a lot of people to be able to come into an authentic Irish pub,\u201d Matt Taylor said. \u201cMaybe they\u2019re not able to get back to the old country, so it\u2019s meaningful to them.\u201d<\/p>\n
The parties go on, despite rain, heat or snow. Each pub is equipped with both heat and air conditioning for all seasons.<\/p>\n
The Taylors wait until everything is ready \u2014 lights low, music on, taps flowing \u2014 before letting guests into a mini pub. <\/p>\n
Craig Taylor said when people step inside for the first time, \u201cit’s like Christmas morning.\u201d <\/p>\n
He said that moment often feels like stepping into another place, one tied to memories of family, tradition and Ireland itself.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople say you\u2019re like Santa Claus,\u201d Craig Taylor said. \u201cYou\u2019re delivering joy every day.\u201d<\/p>\n
And when the night winds down, they aren\u2019t in a hurry to take the pub away.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe never want to kick anybody out of an Irish pub,\u201d Matt Taylor said.<\/p>\n
So instead of picking it up late at night, they return the next morning.<\/p>\n
Craig Taylor said when he asks hosts how long the party lasted, the answer is often the same: \u201cLike, three in the morning.\u201d<\/p>\n
When he and his brother show up to take the pub away, \u201cthere\u2019s sometimes people sleeping on the pew,\u201d he joked. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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