The Irish Times Pub: Authentic and First Class Atmosphere With Live Entertainment Every Night
“If more of us valued food and cheer
and song above hoarded gold,
it would be a merrier world.”
– J.R.R. Tolkien
By CATHOLINE BUTLER
VICTORIA - Matt MacNeil has been building, designing and managing Irish pubs for the past 25 years and his properties are always up-scale, authentic and first class. If there is any owner/publican who has nailed the definition of that elusive word that the Irish call craic, then it’s Matt MacNeil.
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| AT THE IRISH TIMES PUB, General Manager Nels Dugstad and owner Matt MacNeil. |
MacNeil has two locations in Victoria, the Penny Farthing Pub in Oak Bay which has been operating for a few years now, and his latest, and what he says is his very best pub so far, The Irish Times, which opened in October 2003.
I recently spoke with Matt MacNeil and General Manager Nels Dugstad about their operation. Matt describes The Irish Times as “a charming old heritage building.” It was built in 1896 and for many years, it was a Bank of Montreal. In 1988, Ralph Lauren took it over as their signature flagship retail store until October 2003.
He said, “inside of The Irish Times is beautiful. We’ve got 18-foot ceilings, so we put an interior mezzanine level in and now we have two levels of the pub. It has seating for over 200 inside and about 85 on our patios.
“Since the building is on a corner, we have patios on Government Street and Bastion Square. I did a high Victorian concept inside with all the glass lighting made by Water Glass Studios here in Victoria. I also had pictures from an 1890s London Pub. The very ornate brass chandeliers were reproduced by hand here in Victoria and all the stained glass in the pub was designed and created in Dublin for The Irish Times.”
Matt emphasized that the entertainment at The Irish Times is Irish all the time, and it’s been working beautifully for them. They feature live Celtic music seven nights a week with a Celtic session every Friday and Sunday. Some of the regular entertainers include fiddle player, Daniel Lapp, who has won third in the world for the past two years. He plays a Celtic session every Friday and a very traditional session on Sunday night.
Kitangus is a local Celtic group that has become more or less the house band. Local musician, Paul O’Brien and Irish Rover, John Reynolds, also plays at the pub, when he is not on tour. Damian Brennan helps round out the entertainment. For St. Patrick’s week, a kitchen Celtic band from Cape Breton called Kettle’s On will be entertaining between both pubs.
“Daniel Lapp is just the icing on the cake for us”, said Matt, “I can’t say enough good things about him. He’s just magical. He has created an atmosphere in here that is the envy of entertainment venues.
“We want people to know that when they come into The Irish Times, they are going to hear a good level of entertainment not just music. It’s a big commitment but you have to know what you want to be. The minute you start playing John Denver or Bob Seager, you’re beat. You’ve lost everything you set out to be. Of all the Irish pubs in Victoria, we’re the only true Irish pub.”
Nels Dugstad has plenty of experience in the hospitality business working in restaurants and as a sales manager. It was while he was working at Neptune Food Services that he met Matt MacNeil who was one of his customers. Nels and Matt started working together about two years ago and he is now the general manager responsible for the Victoria operations.
Matt and Nels are very pleased with business so far and they cater to tourists from around the world during the high tourist season. Nels said, “we’ve seen a lot of Europeans and Australians this year.
“A lot of the folks here have complained that tourism is off this year, but for us, we’re up 100 percent. The hotel and shop owners have been very kind in sending whomever asks our way and as a result we’ve been the recipient of a good chunk of the tourist business. But, we don’t just cater for the tourists, we really focus a lot on the locals because they are here 365 days of the year.”
Matt MacNeil has opened pubs in Banff, Whistler and Victoria, and speaking about some of his future plans, he said, “my wife and I are very happy here in Victoria. Our two boys are almost through school and this is home but as they say, everything is for sale at the right price.
“I have some other irons in the fire but nothing that we’re under construction with just yet, but we’re always looking for more projects. I would love a Vancouver location. I’ve looked hard and I’m still looking for the right location, but I’m hopeful that we’ll find one.”
The Penny Farthing Pub is located at 2228 Oak Bay Avenue in Victoria. For more information, call (250) 370-9008 or visit: www.pennyfarthingpub.com. The Irish Times Pub is located at 1200 Government Street in Victoria. For more information, call (250) 383-7775, or visit: www.irishtimespub.ca.
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