Boz O'Brien, Legendary Owner Of Reilly's Daughter, Dies At 75,

CHICAGO — Boz O’Brien was a born tavern owner, with a reputation for wild stunts and raucous Irish soda bread contests at his South Side Irish pub named after a folk song about a beautiful Irish lass and her terrifying drunken father, Reilly.

Although he was born “James,” everyone knew him as Boz, who for 27 years owned Reilly’s Daughter in Oak Lawn and, later, a more restrained version at Chicago Midway International Airport. The legendary Irish pub owner died Jan. 28. He was 75.

Boz was 24 when he opened a little Irish bar named Reilly’s Daughter in a strip mall at 111th Street and Pulaski Road on June 16, 1976. It was the kind of place where a South Side politician, preferably a Democrat of Irish descent, would feel comfortable walking into and pressing the flesh with a bunch of sweaty softball players during election season.

“Irish pubs weren’t the thing at the time,” Boz told Patch in a 2015 interview. “We were always involved in politics, sports, and Irish culture.”

Boz O'Brien, founder of Reilly's Daughter

Soon, Reilly’s Daughter began attracting people outside the Irish community, drawn to the gregarious pub owner’s charisma and charm. Boz created an atmosphere of good times and fun, where one could leave their troubles at the door.

Irish singers and musicians also found a steady gig at Reilly’s Daughter, and young people from the neighborhood used their earnings from working there to put themselves through college and achieve great success in adult life.

Boz drew the late ABC sportscaster Howard Cosell’s ire when he blamed that “fleabag bar in Chicago” after a disgruntled fan threw a brick at Cosell’s limo during the World Series.

Buying several black-and-white TVs from a Cicero Avenue hotel that was going out of business, Boz sold chances during an entire season of Monday Night Football. The lucky winner could throw a brick at a TV set during Cosell’s broadcast.

“Everyone loved to hate Howard Cosell back then,” Boz said. “You could hear the implosion of the TV sets from blocks away.”

Boz reluctantly sold Reilly’s Daughter in 2002.

“I was at it for 27 years and gave it my all. I was burned out,” Boz said. “I had mixed feelings about it, but I knew it was the right thing to do.”

He opened a smaller, more intimate version of Reilly’s Daughter at Midway Airport.

His beloved Oak Lawn bar retained its Irish roots in the strip mall at 111th and Pulaski as Hoops and Helmets and Quigley’s South Side Irish Pub. In 2015, a second generation of O’Brien saloonkeepers – Brendan and Danny – assumed ownership and reopened Reilly’s Daughter at its original location.

His sons announced their father’s death on the bar’s Facebook page.

“It is with great sadness we share the passing of our founder, the legendary Boz O’Brien, whose determination and grit turned a vision into the greatest tradition the South Side of Chicago has ever seen, Reilly’s Daughter. Boz had the gift of gab and would strike up a conversation with anyone. He loved to entertain, he loved Chicago and its politics, but most importantly, he loved his sons, Brendan and Danny.

“We’ll miss his wittiness, his guidance, his generosity; we'll miss him.

“The next time you raise a pint, raise it in honor of one of the greatest, Boz.

“Slán go fóill”

Visitation for James “Boz” O’Brien will take place from 2 to 9 p.m. Monday, Feb. 2, at Curley Funeral Home, 6116 W. 111th St., Chicago Ridge. A funeral is planned for Tuesday, Feb. 3, departing the funeral home at 9 a.m. to St. Cajetan Church, 112th Street and Artesian Avenue in Chicago, for the 10 a.m. funeral mass. Interment will be at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Alsip.