JMcVeigh’s Irish Pub:
Toronto’s Oldest Irish Pub
 JIMMY McVEIGH Sr. (right) of McVeigh’s Irish Pub in Toronto with server Julie Forbes.
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 JEXTERIOR of McVeigh’s Irish Pub on Church Street in Toronto. |
By CATHOLINE BUTLER
While in Toronto recently, I stopped in to visit Jimmy McVeigh at McVeigh’s Irish Pub, situated on the corner of Church and Richmond Street.
Jimmy and I go back to the 1970s when my family owned the Molly McGuire’s Irish Pub in Ottawa. Many of the Irish groups that played at McVeigh’s pub also played at the Molly McGuire’s.
I stopped in for lunch and stayed several hours talking to Jimmy about old times and asking about musicians and people that I had lost contact with since moving to western Canada.
Jimmy is amazing. He has been in business for 50 years, and he still comes into the pub every morning to clean-up and fill the beer coolers.
Of course, he knows all his customers and is continually meeting new ones. Belfast-born, Jimmy said, “och aye, I couldn’t stay home and do nothing. I’d be out of my mind.”
In 1961 Jimmy McVeigh bought the New Windsor House but because of antiquated liquor laws he couldn’t change the name of the establishment to an Irish name until the late 70s, even though everyone recognized the New Windsor House as an Irish pub.
McVeigh said that a lot of men and women who met at the pub and subsequently married still drop in to see him, and now their children have heard of Jimmy McVeigh from their parents, and they too drop in to see him.
With the exception of the name McVeigh’s Irish Pub on the outside of the building, not much has changed inside the pub from what I can remember from over 30 years ago.
Speaking about the entertainment now at McVeigh’s, Jimmy said, “every Friday and Saturday night we have ballads. From 3-6 PM every Saturday afternoon we have a traditional session.”
Not all the old musicians drop in to see Jimmy, even though many got their start in the music business at the New Windsor House.
One entertainer who never fails to stop by when in town is Billy Connolly – the Scottish comedian. Whenever he plays the Massey Theatre, he stops by to visit Jimmy. Connolly even made a movie at McVeigh’s.
When the economy was good and the Celtic Tiger was ruling the economy in Ireland, McVeigh said not many Irish were leaving Ireland.
But now with the global recession, which has really impacted Ireland, Jimmy sees more young Irish people coming back to Toronto with a work visa for a couple of years, and Jimmy says that’s a good thing.
The hours pass quickly with old friends, and soon it was time to leave McVeigh’s for Pearson International Airport and the flight back to Vancouver.
McVeigh’s Irish Pub is located at 124 Church Street in Toronto, Ontario. For more information, call (416) 364-9698.
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