Thrilled to be named one of America’s most authentic Irish pubs, owners Mary Ann and Terry Reagan throw their last day-long ‘hooley’ at the charming Conklin pub.
It’s only appropriate that the sun beamed down from brilliant blue skies this morning for the final St. Patrick’s Day parade hosted by Mary Ann and Terry Reagan of Fenian’s Irish Pub in Conklin.
Support our coverage of
West Michigan's music scene
Even more fitting, the red-haired Mary Ann – serving as parade grand marshal – was rightly bubbling over with excitement to share the recent news that this out-of-the-way-but-classic-in-every-detail Ottawa County pub was named by The Daily Meal as one of America’s “18 most authentic Irish pubs.”
The website noted that Fenian’s “is widely considered the best Irish pub in Michigan and for good reason. After the town’s famous St. Patrick’s Day parade, everyone ends up here … for a day of live Celtic music, food and, of course, plenty of drink.”
That is to say, for one last time.
With the Reagans selling the pub they’ve owned since 1987 to head into retirement, today’s “Wearin’ of the Green” parade may have drawn the biggest turnout yet to this tiny, rural hamlet, with hundreds and hundreds of green-festooned friends, parade-goers and musicians (along with a crush of TV and print media folks) expressing equal sentiments of celebration and sadness to see a truly extraordinary era come to an end.
Because to understand the Fenian’s experience, you had to be there – whether marching on March 17 down the single block or so from one end of Conklin’s Main Street to the front door of Fenian’s, or soaking up the fiddles, tin whistles, bouzoukis, accordions and bodhrans of the internationally acclaimed Irish bands that graced the pub’s cozy stage over the years, from Liam Tiernan and Danny Doyle to Beoga, Lunasa, Slide and Dervish (which played the final concert at Fenian’s just last week).
Starting at roughly 11:05 a.m. today, with the conclusion of the “shortest St. Patrick’s Day parade in the world,” the pub literally was packed to the gills with well-wishers and revelers. (Watch the video below). Today’s “all-day hooley” of live music washed down with Guinness will feature a rotating cast of Celtic musicians from across the state who’ve long made Fenian’s their home away from home.
Although the pub’s new owner has indicated he intends to keep it open as a bar, there’s a sense that changes are in store. And things certainly will never be the same without the Reagans and their unbridled passion for traditional Irish folk music.
“It’s all about Terry and Mary Ann,” a friend told me just before the brief lively parade began.
Indeed, it is. So on this St. Patrick’s Day, let’s raise a glass and toast the Reagans for the singular Fenian’s experience — and world-class music — they brought to this remote corner of West Michigan: “May the road rise up to meet you, may the wind always be at your back, may the sun shine soft upon your face and rains fall soft upon your fields.”
Oh, and may the Mai Tais in Florida always be cold and refreshing.
FENIAN’S IRISH PUB IN CONKLIN: ST. PATRICK’S DAY PARADE 2015 VIDEO