Jimmy McVeigh: An Irish Institution
in Toronto for Almost 50 Years
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THE MCVEIGH CLAN - (L-R) Jimmy Junior, Brendan (Paul's son), Paul, Jimmy Senior, and Ryan (Jimmy Jr.'s son).
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McVEIGH'S IRISH PUB (formerly the New Windsor House) on Richmond Street in Toronto.
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THE McVEIGH name is finally displayed outside the building that has been home away from home to countless Irish in Toronto.
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By CATHOLINE BUTLER
McVeigh's Irish Pub (formerly known as the New Windsor House) has been a landmark on Richmond Street in Toronto for almost 50 years.
I first met owner Jimmy McVeigh back in the Seventies when I was a booking agent for entertainment at the Molly McGuire's Irish Pub in Ottawa.
I made several trips to Toronto to hear many of the Irish groups that were playing at the New Windsor House and booked several of them for Molly McGuire's. Jimmy was always helpful and a great resource when it came to Irish groups.
McVeigh doesn't mind telling you that he's a bit of a character and he's a character with a great sense of humour. No doubt it was this Irish humour that has sustained him over the years.
Irish pubs are very trendy now and many owners of these pubs have never even visited Ireland or even know much about Irish music or dance but they realise that having an Irish name outside their establishment is profitable.
I spoke to McVeigh recently about some of the challenges he met when trying to get established in Toronto back in the early Sixties and he said, "This is not to sound big headed, but I always feel that I paid my dues and I deserve to run an Irish pub."
Speaking about his Irish background, Jimmy said, " I was born in Belfast in 1930, but was partly brought up in County Fermanagh. During the war years and after five air raids, my mother and five brothers moved to a farm in County Fermanagh.
"My father disappeared. My mother used to wash-out a bank in Belfast at four in the morning for two shillings a morning, about .50 cents. Then she would come home and get us out to school, and then she would go out to her other little job up the Falls Road, where she worked as a machinist.
"I played minor Gaelic football in Fermanagh and hurling and football in Belfast. I attended the Johnson School of Irish dancing for six years in Belfast and when I came to Toronto, I attended the Butler School of Irish dance. So, I feel that I am well qualified to be running an Irish pub."
McVeigh arrived in Canada in 1956. Before emigrating, he had considered both New Zealand or Chicago as destinations but he finally decided on Toronto since he had some friends already living there.
He admits that he wasn't sure what his dream was upon arriving but he could never have dreamed that he would become the owner of the first authentic Irish pub in Toronto in over 100 years.
There were enormous hurdles to overcome before he could finally proclaim his establishment an Irish pub. He would have to contend with miles of bureaucratic red tape and unbelievable discrimination before the name McVeigh's Irish Pub was finally realized.
Jimmy said, "We didn't start the New Windsor House as an Irish pub, it just evolved into an Irish pub. It became a home away from home for a lot of the Irish, especially the Irish lads who were working on construction digging-out the Toronto subway at the time.
"We wanted to change the name of the New Windsor House to an Irish name but the Liquor Control Board wouldn't hear tell of it... the laws then were terrible."
The Ontario Liquor laws at that time were such that McVeigh was unable to change the name of the New Windsor House to an Irish name until many years later, even though the patrons all recognized the establishment as an Irish pub.
He recalls that in the Fifties and Sixties Irish Catholics in Toronto experienced a lot of discrimination. He said, "they certainly had a hard time getting jobs with the City and City Hall because Toronto was predominately Protestant at the time. But of course, that's all changed now."
In those early years when Jimmy arrived in Toronto as a young man looking for a future, he said, "my first job was selling shoes at the T. Eaton Company and since there was little money at that job, I went to Ford Motors and worked on the assembly line. On weekends I also worked for a moving company and as a helper delivering beer.
"You must realise that in those years Canada was very gracious in allowing in a lot of English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish emigrants. Of course, years later, when Trudeau came to power, he put an end to the Celtic people coming to Canada.
"I met John Gilligan and four other Irish fellows and with so many Celtic people arriving in Toronto, we decided to run an Irish dance at the Ukrainian Hall every Friday and Saturday night.
"The dances were so successful that we decided to open our own dance hall. We looked into buying a movie theatre on St. Clair Avenue and were told that in order to buy the theatre we would need collateral, which we didn't have.
"Fortunately, we met Charlie Henry, a lawyer and a former member of parliament, and he advised us that in order for us to get the needed collateral we should rent a pub because that would give us some prestige.
"Henry suggested renting a pub called the New Windsor House that was owned by some Polish-Canadians.
"In 1961, we rented the New Windsor House and we were able to purchase the movie theatre which we called the Maple Leaf Ballroom."
The Maple Leaf Ballroom was an institution in Toronto for over 12 years and Jimmy said, "We brought in some top showbands from Ireland to play at the ballroom and it was a huge success from day one with line-ups at the door every weekend."
While John Gilligan ran the Maple Leaf Ballroom, Jimmy ran the New Windsor House. He recalls, "It was a holy terror trying to get the pub going when we took over the New Windsor House.
"We were on the edge of cabbage town which was a real ghetto...mind you I came out of a ghetto, so I couldn't complain too much about that. We had big problems at the start but I was young at the time, so I was well able to take care of the troublemakers."
When Jimmy and his partner finally bought the New Windsor House in 1965, they once again turned for advice to their lawyer Charlie Henry on how to apply for their liquor licence.
"On the morning that we were going to the Liquor Board, Charlie Henry cautioned us not to be in shock if we were turned down. We asked why," Jimmy said, "because, he told us, no Irish Catholics had got a licence for over 100 years in Toronto.
"We did get our licence but at that time we were only allowed to serve beer. We probably applied 20 or 30 times after that for our liquor licence, but it wasn't until 1970 that it was finally granted.
"It was only 10 years ago that we changed the name from The New Windsor House to McVeigh's Irish Pub. So, the New Windsor House/McVeigh's is the oldest Irish pub in Toronto."
In the early Seventies, the New Windsor House started bringing in Irish ballad groups and it became the place to go if you wanted to hear good Irish music.
There were two floors of music and when one group finished playing their set they would exchange rooms with the other group so that you could stay in one room and hear both ballad groups.
"We had some great entertainers that played at the New Windsor House," Jimmy said, "we had Billy Connolly the great Scottish comedian here on two occasions, and he also made two films in the pub...a wonderful person.
"One thing about Billy Connolly is that whenever he comes to town now, he always comes in to say hello and he doesn't have to do that you know."
Other groups that played there were Sullivan's Gypsies, Brendan Grace, The Sons of Erin, The Dubliners and Bob Geldoff. Scottish-Canadian tenor John McDermott won his first singing competition there.
Jimmy said, "other entertainers who just dropped in to the pub were the Irish Rovers and Bono of U2 who was interviewed by City TV here at The Windsor House."
He recalls, "We started running a Saturday matinee and we found that we were only attracting the men until Don Sullivan, lead singer with Sullivan's Gypsies started to MC and entertain at the matinees.
"He changed the name of the matinee to 'Chicks and Roosters', the concept being that where the chicks were the roosters would soon follow.
"The men all got a cigar and the women received a rose upon entering and soon the matinees became so popular that if you weren't in by 3 PM you wouldn't get a seat. You really need a personality like Sullivan to run these matinees."
Many Irish entertainers living in Toronto got their career start at the New Windsor House. Jimmy said, "we gave them jobs when they needed work and we saw them all the time but now that they've become very big, we don't see them any more. Besides we couldn't afford them."
It's a lot easier running an Irish pub now than when Jimmy started back in the early Sixties, for one thing there are more McVeigh's now to help out.
Jimmy's two sons, Jimmy Junior and Paul now run the pub along with his grandson Brendan (Paul's son) who works part time at the pub.
"We now open the pub at 11 AM in the morning and close at 2 AM," said Jimmy, "and we're open seven days a week. In the winter we have a traditional session night with live entertainment Thursday, Friday and Saturday night and in the summer we have live entertainment five nights a week."
He said, "every Sunday night in the summertime we have a ballad night and it's a big night here with all the students out from Ireland. We have excellent food at the pub, probably some of the best food of any pub within miles of here.
"We show all the Celtic football games and the Setanta Sports but, to be honest, we don't get along that well with Setanta. They've become very big and independent and not nice people to deal with generally...especially Shane O'Rourke at the office in San Francisco. He's very rude, very bad mannered, and just not a nice person.
"Sometimes I feel that maybe we as Irish business people should be getting a little break, but I suppose they're in business also....but certainly courtesy goes a long way you know."
At 79-years-old, Jimmy McVeigh is still working at the pub. He describes himself as a workaholic and a helper at the pub. He arrives into the pub at 7:30 AM every morning and doesn't leave until 7:30 PM. He does all the cleaning in the bar, sets-up the bar for the day, helps to serve meals at noon, and is also a bartender when it gets busy.
After 48 years in the pub, Jimmy knows all the regulars and enjoys talking to them. Just down the street from McVeigh's Irish Pub is a youth hostel where many Australians stay and they're also regular visitors at McVeigh's.
Next time you visit Toronto, drop into McVeigh's Irish Pub and say hello to Jimmy McVeigh...you'll enjoy the craic and hospitality.
McVeigh's Irish Pub is located at 124 Church Street (closest cross street is Richmond), Toronto, Ontario. For more information, call (416) 364-9698 or visit: www.mcveighsirishpub.com.
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