12 Bars To Compete In Reilly's Daughter's Irish Coffee Contest

OAK LAWN, IL -- It’s St. Patrick’s Day, which is the South Side’s version of Mardi Gras. Fresh off its successful Irish Soda Bread Contest, Reilly’s Daughter in Oak Lawn will host its first Irish Coffee Contest. A dozen South Side Irish pubs have confirmed their attendance and will offer up their best brew for bragging rights and cash prizes this Thursday, March 14.

Irish Coffee was first introduced in 1943 by Joe Sheridan, chef at Foynes Port near Limerick. Foynes. The airbase was usually a stopover for transatlantic flights ferrying celebrities and politicians. One cold wintry night and taking pity on some weary travelers, Sheridan mixed up a concoction or Irish whiskey, cream and hot coffee, according to Weaver’s Coffee and Tea. The drink proved to be such a hit that it was introduced to the United States in 1952 by a travel writer.

Brendan O’Brien, who co-owns the pub with brother Dan, said he’s called every bar in the area to enter their secret Irish Coffee recipe. Every bar that enters will receive a free gift bag from Jameson’s Irish Whiskey. First, second and third place cash prizes will be awarded.

So far, the O’Briens have lined up Rep. Kelly Burke and Ed Kilcoyne, a Reilly’s regular and retired driver’s ed teacher who taught a generation of Mother McAuley and Mt. Carmel students how to drive, to judge the contest. The pre-St. Patrick’s Day revelry also features the Terry Mceldowney Trio, Cross Keys Irish dancers and pipers.

The second-generation saloon keepers reclaimed the bar in 2015 after a 13-year hiatus. Their dad, Boze O’Brien, ran Reilly’s Daughter, named for the Irish folk song about a lovely Irish lass and her terrifying drunken father, from 1976 through 2003. Reilly’s Daughter became notorious for such stunts as selling chances where a lucky bar patron could throw a brick at a TV during a Howard Cosell Monday Night Football broadcast. Irish singers and musicians found a steady gig at the bar, and South Side politicians regularly stopped by to press the flesh with sweaty softball players. Feeling burned out, Boze reluctantly sold the bar.

Since the bar reopened in 2015 under his sons' ownership, Brendan and Dan are recapturing the magic, bringing back the old traditions and employing the sons and daughters of couples who met at the bar in the 1970s and 1980s.

The evening will get going around 7 p.m. Reilly’s Daughter is located in the strip mall on the northwest corner of Pulaski Road and 111th Street at 4010 W. 111th St. Oak Lawn.