At This Danbury Irish Pub, Leave Your Virus Gloom At The Door

DANBURY, CT — Most nights at Molly Darcy's, an Irish pub on Mill Plain Road, you can yell over to the barmaid something about "having another Corona" and the guy next to you won't bat an eye.

Times have changed, haven't they?

A glance at the headlines reveals just how hard the new coronavirus has hit southwestern Connecticut. Schools are closing, museums are shuttering, and even libraries have been reduced to drive-thru's. On the strong recommendations of state and local officials, everybody is doing their best to stay inside to slow the spread of the virus.

Colleen Brunner ("That's my married name. My maiden name is Murphy. 'Colleen Murphy!' That's as Irish as it gets...!"), the manager of Molly Darcy's, is really not seeing it.

"I keep the business running," Brunner said. "So I see the numbers, and I know what's going on, and I have to say actually last night and the night before weren't too bad."

Last weekend was "very busy," according to Brunner. "And today I had a local church group that has been coming here for 15 years at least. And these are all pretty much elderly people." A couple of the elders "with health issues" declined to attend that day, but the group still numbered nearly 30. They brought along their priest, who blessed the pub, which delighted Brunner.

"We are very positive here. We are remaining open, and we are going to provide everybody in town a safe place." She says pub personnel are following all of the Department of Health-recommended cleaning procedures, and she is even checking to make sure the dishwasher is running at the proper temperature.

"But it's obviously hard to determine what will happen in the next three or four days leading up to St. Patrick's Day," Brunner said. "We hope that people just come and enjoy the festivities and not get too wrapped up in what's going on in the world." (To sign up for Danbury breaking news alerts and more, click here.)

The COVID-19 concern has pummeled Danbury's Irish community particularly hard. A week's worth of St. Patrick’s Day celebrations was shut down, including the Irish Heritage Day celebration on Saturday, the annual Irish flag raising on Tuesday and the 25th annual parade on March 22.

This weekend, the one before St. Patrick's Day, is Christmas for any Irish pub. Molly Darcy's has scheduled a full slate of activities. On St. Pat's Eve, at their "Picture Your Pint" event, the pub will carve your photo into the foam atop your Guinness. On the big day, singer Eamon O'Neill is coming over from Ireland to perform at the pub as he does every St. Patrick's Day ("He's just afraid he won't be able to go back home this time!" Brunner laughed).

The pub manager is optimistic, but her head's not in the sand. Brunner says it would be "foolish" of anyone to believe this St. Patrick's Day season is going to be their biggest. But she makes it clear that she is genetically incapable of letting any viral doom and gloom weigh heavily on her mind. COVID-19 may be highly infectious, but it's got nothing on Brunner's laugh.

"You know, we're Irish, we like to have fun! When times are tough, we still like to enjoy life," she said. "We'll do our part to keep the community safe, and what more can you do?"

Raise a glass, and toast, "do shláinte!"