Oldest Irish pub on NYC's St. Patrick's Day Parade route celebrates 50 years

Maggie's Place, the oldest Irish pub along the NYC St. Patrick's Day route on Fifth Avenue, is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. 

Dublin natives Teddy and Maggie Whelan opened the bar at 21 E 47th St. in 1974 and the Irish pub has remained within the family ever since. 

Teddy and Maggie's son Martin took over the bar in 1992 and has witnessed changes to the New York parade over the past three decades. 

Martin told IrishCentral that crowds are not as big as they used to be due to the large volume of parades that take place in the boroughs and on Long Island, making people less likely to venture into the city than in previous years. 

Martin added that it is "almost unheard of" for an Irish bar to survive for 50 years in New York City without owning the building, adding that the bar has been fortunate to deal with the same landlords throughout its existence. 

"Bars just don't last 50 years in New York," Martin told IrishCentral.

"They just don't. You might get one through one or two leases,  but to last 50 years is almost unheard of.

"You're either here for 100 years or you're or you're here for 20 years, but there's nobody really in between. And all of the old places probably own their buildings."

"It's just absolutely unheard of,  especially in Midtown. Midtown's tougher than certain areas of Manhattan," Martin added, stating that is a source of pride that his parents' bar is still open half a century later. 

Martin said his parents were a "great American success story", stating that his father flew to the States on the first-ever transatlantic Aer Lingus flight. 

"They struggled like everybody else. it's the immigrant's dream, you know. They worked their butts off." 

He said Teddy and Maggie even sent their children to Ireland so they could work long hours in the restaurant industry, eventually earning enough money to open their own place in 1974. 

Martin recalled the bar's opening day in 1974 and said his parents only realized after opening the doors that they had not bought any ashtrays. Martin said his aunt "borrowed" ashtrays from the Irish Export Board, which had offices across the street. 

He also recalled an incident during the bar's first St. Patrick's Day parade when his father sent him across Fifth Avenue to the Export Board's office with five crates of beer. Then only 14, Martin said he would have been "eaten alive" by the crowd had his father not enlisted the services of a friendly police officer to escort him across the street. 

Maggie's Place has undergone several changes since Martin took over in 1992, including a memorable renovation in 1995 - one of several - when the bar remained open while work was ongoing. 

Martin has also changed the bar's opening hours, taking the decision to open on Saturdays and Sundays. 

He told IrishCentral that his mother did not allow his father to open on weekends when the bar first opened as she wanted to have "family days." Maggie's Place also remained shut over the Christmas period. 

The establishment has faced significant challenges over the past half-century, from recessions and downturns to pandemics and lockdowns, but it continues to draw a strong corporate crowd on work days and will be enjoying its busiest day of the year once again when the NYC St. Patrick's Day parade rolls into town next Saturday, March 16.