Latest news with #McGonagle
Sunday World
05-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Sunday World
Irish singer reveals how Ed Sheehan once opened for him at packed Boston gig
Jinty McGrath arrived in the US with a bag and a guitar and says the gift of the gab has kept him busy in the music world. The moment singer Jinty McGrath belted out the Irish national anthem to a 20,000 strong crowd for a Bruins game in Boston will never leave him. It was as if all those years learning the guitar had led to this electric feeling of pride and excitement. The Cork singer, who moved to the USA with just a bag and guitar back in 2014, sang the national anthem in the TD Garden for a Bruins game on St Patrick's Day. Jinty, who hails from Mayfield in Co Cork, never swayed from following his dreams. In Boston, Jinty is the houseband in the Dubliner on a Friday and Saturday night and McGonagle's on a Sunday. During the week, he works on his music and plays in Nashville. 'I moved here in 2014 when I was 21. I landed here with a bag and a guitar,' he says. 'I knew I wanted to play music when I got here. I landed on a Saturday, and I headed straight to Paddy Barry's in Quincy. 'There was a singer on stage from Cork, Denis O'Gorman, I met the owner Gerry Hanley, he told me to go up and play with O'Gorman so I did and he gave me a gig the following Friday and then I started to pick up a couple more. Ed Sheeran 'I was young, there weren't musicians in my age bracket here at the time, they were all older than me. I was doing Ed Sheeran, all the young stuff at the time. I'd have two gigs on a Friday, three on a Saturday and three on a Sunday. 'I was close a couple of times to giving up on my dream but as long as it's alive, this is where I need to be. The gift of the gab gets me by. I'd never move home. 'After a year or two, I got a gig in the Black Rose in Downtown, that was my first time breaking into Downtown, that was huge. That was the hardest gig to get in Boston at the time. 'In 2015, I was lucky enough to get an opening slot at the Dropkick Murphys on St Patrick's Day. Then in 2018, I was asked to sing the national anthem in the TD Garden for a Bruins game in front of 20,000 people on St Patrick's Day.' Apart from being one of Mayfield's best exports, Jinty has been an ambassador for Ireland with his music and has shared the stage with globally famous singers. Jinty has shared the stage with global superstar Ed Sheeran Today's News in 90 Seconds - July 5th 'This St Patrick's Day, we had Aaron Rowe, Beoga, Ed Sheeran and then me on the line-up. Technically, Ed Sheeran opened for me on St Patrick's Day in Boston,' he added. 'Performing with Ed Sheeran was surreal, I do put down a lot of my success in music through the years [to him], because when I came here Ed Sheeran's first two albums were out, I was singing all that stuff. 'Castle on the Hill was huge here, I was the only person singing it. I put a lot of my success down to playing his songs. 'When he was here, he performed straight for an hour, he absolutely rocked the place. I met him, he was one of the nicest guys. He was asking about my songwriting, he was so down to earth. I forgot to ask him for a picture but he ended up asking me for one.' Last December, Jinty started making his way up and down to Nashville to record music as a way to progress in his career and continue living the dream — with a few surprises along the way. 'One night, I was on at 10 o'clock, myself and one other kid. The bar kind of emptied out but I met an Irish lady when I was going to the bathroom. It's very unusual to meet an Irish person in Nashville. 'She asked if I was Irish and what I was doing here. I told her that I was playing on stage in 10 minutes. She said 'no way, there's 90 of us across the street staying in a hotel for the Jimmy Buckley tour.' I told her that I love Jimmy Buckley and I've been singing his songs for years. She said 'hang on, I'll be back.' 'She went across the road and then she came back with about 70 others running in the door. When I got on stage they started screaming and they backed me the whole way. That's the beautiful thing about Irish, if they know you're there on your own they'll back you to the teeth.'
Boston Globe
12-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Two new Irish pubs to visit for St. Patrick's Day
Fish and chips at McGonagle's in Dorchester. Executive chef Aidan McGee is already known for his version at sister pub the Dubliner downtown. Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff/Boston Globe Get Winter Soup Club A six-week series featuring soup recipes and cozy vibes, plus side dishes and toppings, to get us all through the winter. Enter Email Sign Up McGonagle's opened in Dorchester in December, in the space that was previously Dorset Hall. It's named for owner Oran McGonagle, who is also behind the Dubliner downtown and the Cottage in Weymouth. On a Thursday or Sunday evening, you'll find yourself at a popular neighborhood spot, having a cozy dinner or a drink among a crowd of regulars. On a Saturday, you'll arrive to a line that wraps around the outside of the building and a packed house on the dance floor in front of the stage, here to listen to Irish-American singer-songwriters, Pogues tribute bands, country and rock acts, musicians flown in from Ireland to perform, and more. This week brings special St. Patrick's entertainment, from Irish dancers to Clancy Brothers salutes. The live music scene, just getting started on a Saturday afternoon at McGonagle's. Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff/Boston Globe Behind the stage is a mural of a seaside town, the Guinness toucan mascot gazing out over the water. It's a depiction of Moville, in County Donegal, where McGonagle grew up working in his family's shop. The pub is filled with Irish posters and memorabilia, decorated in dark wood with ornate wallpaper, tin ceilings, stained glass windows, and burgundy booths with nail head trim. Whiskey lovers can store their personal bottles in one of the lockers adorned with gold nameplates. The pub spreads out over two levels, with the stage located downstairs and the upstairs dominated by a square wraparound bar. Advertisement A square wraparound bar dominates the upstairs at McGonagle's. Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff/Boston Globe McGee, also from Donegal, previously worked in London; his resume includes places such as gastropub the Truscott Arms and the Michelin-starred Dinner by Heston Blumenthal. His food at the Dubliner is excellent, and it's a welcome stop for the workers and tourists who come and go downtown. In Dorchester, people stay, and return. McGonagle's is geared toward the local crowd, cultivating regulars. In addition to Irish pub classics, the menu includes things like oysters, smash burgers, and pizza. (McGonagle's brother owns a pizza shop in Ireland.) If you're in with friends and want to share a snack over drinks, the spice bag is your starting point. It's Chinese-Irish fusion: a heaping portion of battered chicken nuggets, fries, peppers, and onions tossed in a fragrant, zesty-but-not-fiery spice blend and served with a silver pitcher of curry sauce. Yes, it does actually come in a bag; rip the paper open and you're greeted with a glorious cloud of scented steam. The chicken tenders are good here, too, and also Chinese takeaway-adjacent with their crisp batter and sweet-and-sour and garlic-scallion sauces. The spice bag, a Chinese-Irish fusion dish. Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff/Boston Globe McGonagle's has mastered frying, and the fish and chips is a worthy successor to the version at the Dubliner: a massive piece of fried haddock, golden and fresh, with fries, coleslaw, and tartar and curry sauces. It's a meditative little thing, to sit at the bar with a Guinness to sip, alternating between dips and squeezes of lemon. Bangers and mash is excellent, the sausages mild and tender on a bed of mashed potatoes, crowned with caramelized and crisped onions, surrounded by deep brown gravy. It's enough for two dinners, at least. Steak tips are cooked to order, with rosy pink centers; they come with a sauce (peppercorn, spiced butter, or garlic-herb) and two sides. It's hard to resist the fries, but don't miss the cauliflower cheese, tender florets in a creamy sauce. And that smash burger, with its two flat patties and all the toppings, is good enough to bring you back for seconds soon. Advertisement Bangers and mash are on the menu at McGonagle's, along with other traditional Irish pub fare, plus dishes such as smash burgers and pizza. Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff/Boston Globe A few miles away, in Back Bay, there's another new Irish pub — with another smash burger. It's a thing. It's another upstairs-downstairs setting, bar on the ground floor and a dining room above, with Ireland-themed posters on the walls. Sweeney's was previously Sólás, which held down the fort here for more than 20 years. Executive chef Daniel Kenney (Liberty Hotel) now serves a menu that mixes Irish and New England influences: clam chowder, mac and cheese, and crispy chicken sandwiches here; chips with curry sauce, ham and cheese toasties, and full Irish grill there, with rashers, bangers, blood sausage, baked beans, and the lot (11 a.m.-2 p.m. only). Guinness-braised short rib at Sweeney's. Courtesy of Sweeney's There's tender short rib braised in Guinness, as an entrée or sandwiched into sliders, topped with good Irish cheddar and served with a little dish of cornichons. Fish and chips is another winning version, served with tartar sauce, a cheesecloth-wrapped lemon, and a little plastic fish bottle filled with vinegar. The chips at Sweeney's are excellent, curved petals of crisp potato. The corned beef on a sandwich with pickled cabbage slaw is very dry. But salmon cooked on a cedar plank, served with roasted root vegetables and whipped potatoes, makes up for it and would be at home at a gastropub in Boston or Ireland. Kenney has Irish heritage, and his family has a home in County Mayo, so it all makes sense. Advertisement McGonagle's, 367 Neponset Ave., Dorchester, 617-514-4689, . Appetizers $8-$16, entrees $18-$34, Guinness $9. Sweeney's, 710 Boylston St., Back Bay, Boston, 617-933-4803, . Appetizers $11-$21, entrees $18-$33, Guinness $11. A selection of dishes at Sweeney's on Boylston, an Irish pub at the Lenox Hotel. CHRISTOPHER SMITH Devra First can be reached at
Boston Globe
28-01-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
How one man from Donegal is changing how we see Irish pubs in Boston
Get Winter Soup Club [Coming Soon] A six-week series featuring soup recipes and cozy vibes, plus side dishes and toppings, to get us all through the winter. Enter Email Sign Up 'The big thing for me on the hospitality side is that it encompasses everything for me, regarding lighting, music, atmosphere, and how you treat people,' McGonagle said. Advertisement Treating people well was a lesson he also learned back home in Ireland, helping out in the family shop. 'It's such a simple thing, but I just was geared towards that when it came to hospitality and my background is growing up in a shop that's my family business,' he said. 'I've dealt with the public all my life since a young age, since as a kid we were up and running around the shop. My dad had a little supermarket … so that obviously led towards dealing with the public, and I would be very comfortable in talking to them.' A hearty pub spread at McGonagle's in Dorchester. Handout McGonagle, who also owns 'I get why an Irish bar is so popular and the history of it all,' he says, 'And I never want to shy away from that. I'm very proud that people love their Irish roots.' Advertisement However, one big difference you'll hear at both the Dubliner and McGonagle's is the live music and events. One of Ireland's hottest exports, 'When you come in, you'll hear a band from Ireland that we're flying out to Boston and we're showcasing them in our bars, that's something we do now. Basically every month we have bands coming out here and staying here and playing a weekend with us, and I feel like the younger Americans are getting what we're doing,' McGonagle said. Chef Aidan McGee. Barry Chin/Globe Staff 'They might not be your mom and dad's version of an Irish musician.' Another notable difference is the food and drink. While both pubs pour an excellent stout, the cocktail menus are well worth exploring, with drinks like barrel-aged Old Fashioneds and Pink Gin and Tonics. McGonagle worked with his bar managers and team 'sounding off each other on WhatsApp to figure out which ones would work.' Of course, one of the biggest game changers at both pubs has been the quality of the food, directed by Going from washing dishes to owning and running multiple restaurants is quite a journey, and McGonagle is grateful. Advertisement A Scotch egg at the Dubliner. Barry Chin/Globe Staff 'So you talk about the American dream, all these things. It was very much a life for me. I still think it is a life for people. It's just you have to go and try and get it. That's the thing behind it,' he says. 'I'm super proud of it, honestly.' McGonagle credits the team he's built around him. 'I'm super proud of all the people that I have with me. … We're all a big group that kind of look after each other and I know that my name is probably at the front of it, but there's nothing that happens without the rest of the crew behind me.' McGonagle's Pub & Restaurant , 367 Neponset Ave., Dorchester. Tanya Edwards can be reached at .
