A fleet of festive pubs on wheels brings a taste of Ireland to New England

READING, Mass. — Just before St. Patrick’s Day, an Irish pub appeared one evening under a basketball hoop in a driveway in suburban Massachusetts.

Neighbors gathered around the bar as music played and Guinness flowed – inside a small pub that had been towed away for the night.

Instead of going out to celebrate, the bar had come to them.

“The Wee Irish Pub” was delivered by Tiny Pubs, a small business run by brothers Matt and Craig Taylor, who build miniature Irish pubs on wheels for New England holidays, weddings and backyard parties.

Decorated with antique signs, church pews, an electric fireplace and a bar made from the front panel of an 1864 piano, the pubs recreate the atmosphere of a traditional Irish pub, but are just small enough to fit in an alley.

“It’s really a time to forget everything that’s going on in the world,” said Mark Cote, who was hosting the pub in his Andover driveway last Friday. “That’s what pubs are supposed to be: for people coming together and having fun.”

About 20 people from five families — whose children grew up together — gathered in the roughly 20-foot-long space for Cote’s annual party, creating what he said felt like a real neighborhood bar.

The idea was born during the COVID-19 lockdown, when the Taylor brothers – retired from their careers in corporate finance – found themselves missing their favorite Irish pubs.

The first version was installed in Matt Taylor’s driveway in Reading, 12 miles north of Boston.

“When we were building the pub in this area, the neighbors thought a pub would live here full time,” he said. “We had to calm them down a little.”

They worked until about 1 a.m. the day before their first rental. Matt said he was worried the windows would crack during the first tow on the highway, but everything went well.

What started as a pandemic project has since grown into a small business with four bars, including two Irish pubs, booked most weekends of the year.

The brothers wanted the small bars to look like real Irish pubs and not themed party props.

“We have some Irish friends who said, ‘You better not have leprechauns and stuff in there,’” Craig Taylor said. “So we said, ‘No, it’s going to be authentic.'”

They visited Irish pubs around New England while designing the interior, choosing classic colors like jasper green and Irish cream.

Almost every detail inside has a story, including the bar built from the front panel of an 1864 piano and church pews salvaged from a local church for seating.

A pair of horseshoes from an Ipswich farm hang above the door for good luck: pointing down when guests enter and up when they leave.

A hymn rack contains a book of Irish surnames in which visitors mark their last name, sometimes with a dollar bill on the page, sparking conversations about ancestry.

There are packets of Scampi Fries – a popular pub snack imported from Ireland – and a cork board with police and fire badges, a common tradition at pubs where first responders gather.

Craig Taylor said one sign they’re right is when guests start pointing out things inside — the Scampi Fries, a last name, a familiar song — moments when the experience shifts from something new to something personal.

Guinness rented the Taylors’ ads for weeks. They were also used by a state senator in the South Boston St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Pubs have even been hired out for celebrations of life after funerals.

Jarred Guthrie of Swampscott said his family has been renting the original version for years now as part of a long-running annual St. Patrick’s Day celebration.

The party draws about 125 people, Guthrie said, with an Irish band playing inside the house while guests move between rooms, the pub and the waterfront courtyard overlooking the ocean.

Guests crowd inside to take turns playing bartender, telling stories and singing songs — sometimes traditional Irish tunes or Gaelic lyrics that Guthrie said are rarely heard outside of family gatherings.

“People feel emboldened,” he said. “There’s a lot of singing in this pub. It’s a place where people naturally come together.”

Before each event, the brothers personalize the space with personalized posters, often designed with a family crest designating the host as the temporary “owner” of the pub.

“It’s something special for a lot of people to be able to walk into an authentic Irish pub,” Matt Taylor said. “Maybe they’re not able to go back to their old country, so it makes sense to them.”

The celebrations continue, despite the rain, heat or snow. Each pub is equipped with heating and air conditioning for all seasons.

The Taylors wait until everything is ready – lights dim, music on, taps running – before letting guests into a mini-pub.

Craig Taylor said when people first walk in, “it’s like Christmas morning.”

He said this moment often feels like entering another place, linked to memories of family, tradition and Ireland itself.

“People say you’re like Santa Claus,” Craig Taylor said. “You bring joy every day.”

And when the night comes to an end, they’re in no hurry to remove the pub.

“We never want to kick anyone out of an Irish pub,” Matt Taylor said.

So instead of picking him up late at night, they come back the next morning.

Craig Taylor said that when he asks hosts how long the party lasted, the answer is often the same: “Like, three in the morning.” »

When he and his brother come to collect the pub, “there are sometimes people sleeping on the bench,” he joked.