Atlantic City’s Irish Pub taught me radio, and I never forgot why

I saw an article on NJ.com this morning about one of my old haunts, in the town where I was born. Atlantic City's Irish Pub. I've been going there since I was 18, which, yes, was the legal drinking age in New Jersey back then. And as I recall, they were open all night. Imagine that combination. It really happened.

I was introduced to the Irish Pub by my late friend Michael "Spyder" McGuire. Spyder was a radio personality in Atlantic City and a coworker of mine at two different stations, an early mentor, and my first real drinking buddy. By day, he taught me the basics of radio broadcasting. By night, he introduced me to the entirely unique culture of the Irish Pub. New, fancier casino bars kept opening up around us at the time. The Irish Pub just kept ticking along, exactly the same. I had some of my best conversations there, about radio, about everything happening in the world around us, the way bar conversations tend to go. I met some genuinely unique Atlantic City characters in that room. I was raised 18 miles away in Mays Landing, but every night out at the Irish Pub still felt like an adventure.

Years later, once I'd met the woman who'd become my wife, I wanted her to meet Spyder, so naturally, we headed to the Irish Pub. I still remember walking out that night and finding my car simply gone. If that's ever happened to you, you know the feeling. We went back inside, and Spyder introduced us to an off-duty Atlantic City police officer, who turned out to be genuinely helpful. He asked exactly where I'd parked, and I pointed to a lot right next to the pub's own lot. Turned out it wasn't the pub's lot at all, and my car had been towed and impounded. The officer told us it was a common mistake, then drove us to the impound lot himself, talked to the attendant, and got the car back to us on the spot. No fine, no ticket. I'd like to thank that officer again, more than 30 years later. And I'd like to thank Spyder, for everything he gave me early in my career, and for teaching me what a great bar and a great conversation could actually be.

The Irish Pub

Now the pub itself is fighting to survive

According to NJ.com, the Irish Pub has been closed since the end of 2025, having missed its entire summer tourist season, caught in a dispute with the state over whether the building qualifies as a high-rise, and the stricter fire safety upgrades that classification would require. Owner Cathy Burke has already installed sprinklers throughout most of the building at her own expense. The sticking point is the first-floor dining room, home to the pub's valuable overhead Tiffany lamps and irreplaceable memorabilia, where a sprinkler system has proven far harder to design. One contractor's project fell through entirely. Another proposed tearing up the street outside.

A state Division of Community Affairs spokesperson said Burke technically has the option to keep operating while working through the violations, or to pursue a variance, but Burke says reopening now would just mean laying off staff all over again once repairs actually begin. Fines keep accruing daily in the meantime. Burke and her husband Richard have owned the pub since 1972; the business itself traces back to 1902. In all that history, the only other time it's closed was during Prohibition.

"We're not ready to write the final chapter," Burke told NJ.com. "I still believe there's a way forward." Michael Suleiman of South Jersey Forward, a public policy nonprofit, said the prolonged closure has been devastating both for the business and for Atlantic City itself, and encouraged people who care about the pub to make that known to the state directly.

I hope she's right that the story isn't over. Spyder's gone now, but every memory I have of him still runs straight through that building. I'd hate for the next chapter of that place to be the last one.