[no audio] - [Narrator] "Here's the Story."

- There are very few shot and a beer places left in Atlantic City, and a shot and a beer place is a rare and valuable thing.

And we get a lot of, I'm not even gonna say working middle class.

I'm gonna say working class people who come to the Irish Pub and you can walk through those doors at any time of the day.

Police and firemen who work overnight shifts, get done at 8:00 in the morning.

They'll meet here if there's a retirement, or a special occasion, or just to get together with the people that they work with.

Casino workers, when they finish their shift, they need a place to go where they can be and congregate, and those places are becoming rarer and rarer.

You know, Atlantic City's been up and down over the years.

I've been here my whole life, and the casinos were supposed to be the savior.

But actually, places like the Irish Pub are the places that are gonna save Atlantic City.

To be able to drink here, have a affordable meal here at the pub, and even rent a room upstairs at the pub.

There are very few places like that left here in town.

And we cherish them, and long live the Irish Pub, long live Cathy Burke.

[pleasant music] [train whistle blows] [old movie film clicking] - [News Reporter] Dexys Midnight Runners at the shore's hottest... ♪ If you've got a passion for fashion ♪ - [News Reporter] A city whose principal business is the entertainment of many.

♪ Take the wheel of your automobile ♪ ♪ And swing on down to my ideal ♪ - Come and sit in the Irish Pub and feel what I feel and everybody else feel.

I'm home, this is home.

[mellow piano music] - When I leave here, I feel like I was on a ride at Disney.

[laughing] - [News Reporter] Atlantic City, often called the vacation capital of the nation - Dick and Cathy Burke, they had a dream and they made it become a reality.

And I, myself, my brother, my family, the community here, like so many, we were just fortunate enough to be able to step into that dream and become part of that reality.

[cheery dance music] - The place is open 24 hours, no lock on the door.

You can come in two o'clock in the afternoon.

You can come in at two o'clock in the morning.

It never gets boring in this place, that I can guarantee, it's so fun.

♪ 1340 Atlantic City ♪ ♪ W N ♪ - Change is part of life, we all understand that.

But it's nice to go back to where you just feel comfortable.

And I think that's it in a nutshell here.

Listen, some of the bartenders been here 43 years, [chuckling] wow, you know.

So, and as long as they're still serving me, that's a good thing, you know.

- Cathy and Richard have been ahead of their time, by taking people back in time.

- People think life is about things, but it's really about experiences.

And they don't know it until they have an experience over and over again.

And this experience is unlike any other, this is true Atlantic City.

- [Radio Announcer] When anyone asks, tell them you listen to FM 97 for beautiful music.

[mellow piano music] - [News Reporter] Atlantic City, located on Absecon Island is swept by cool sea breezes in midsummer.

[upbeat tinkling music] For a president or just plain, ordinary folk, Atlantic City provides the restful atmosphere of a perfect vacation spot.

Today, Atlantic City stands preeminent among the great resorts of the world.

- The Irish Pub creates memories.

People became engaged here, people got married here, people stayed here.

There's rooms upstairs you could stay during the summer.

So at the Irish Pub, it's the atmosphere.

And you never know who you're gonna meet.

- I guess it's just that sense, you have something you can count on, that stays true.

'Cause this is a true experience.

You know, it's like there's real love here.

There's real camaraderie here.

There's real sense of occasion here.

- It's where the pauper drinks with the prince, right?

The king and the queen dine with the commoner, right?

It's where the blue collar hangs with the white collar.

It's where the rich and the poor, they dance together.

We all get together, we meet here.

We're the same, we're equal.

And we get to know each other, we all become friends.

- Everybody wants something they can count on.

And just like you have a favorite chair in your den, even if it's a little beat up, it brings you comfort.

It's constant like a good friend.

- No matter where you are, when you close your eyes at night, the Irish Pub's open and somebody's having a ridiculous conversation about music or life or whatever.

No matter where you are in this world, the doors are open, you know?

And somebody is having a great night, a bad night, a sad night, whatever.

And the pub is still open, and John is still behind the bar.

- It's just a magical place.

And the air sparkles, you know, and that's something that makes it it beautiful down here.

So when you come to this bar, and you have what is a genuine "Cheers" experience, "Cheers" wishes it could be this bar.

[no audio] ["Danny Boy" acoustic guitar version] [bar patrons laughing] [people speaking in background] - You're from PBS, okay.

- Check.

- Did you come yesterday?

- No.

[people speaking in background] - Steve?

- [Steve] Yes.

- Don't get nervous, it's only a third of my decorations.

- [Steve] What's that?

- Don't get nervous, this is only a third of my decorations.

- [Steve] Oh no, I realize that, yeah, yeah, no.

- By the time you, hi.

By the time you had called me- - You had stuff up already.

- This had all been done.

- Exactly, but I haven't done a lot of things.

- Cathy, this is Max.

- Hiya Max- - Hello, nice to meet you.

How are you.

- Welcome to the Irish Pub.

- [Max] Thank you.

- My name is Cathy Burke and I'm from Atlantic City.

And I, together with my husband, Richard Burke, have been the proud owners and operators of the Irish Pub and Inn since the 1970's.

["Danny Boy] - So in the summer, you're pretty full, I guess, yeah?

And so these rooms and this lounging area is full of people, I guess.

- Yeah, absolutely.

- Yeah.

- Absolutely, people love to hang out here, sit down and relax and, but it's part of that old era.

It's not part of the new era.

You know, people would hang out, people weren't just into the phones and the iPads, and all of that.

People used to, you know, people have made friendships through the years and actually would book their vacation to be able to see each other.

- [Steve] So you're from Atlantic City?

- Yes.

- Born and raised.

- Yes.

- Huh, what's kind of- - I'm proud to say.

It's the greatest place in the world to be, especially growing up.

When I grew up, grew up you know, in Atlantic City, there was nothing better.

I mean, I grew up right around the corner from here.

- [Steve] You enjoyed your childhood here.

- [Cathy] Loved it, it was amazing, in every way, absolutely every way.

Fun, adventurous, and it didn't matter how young you were as a child, you could run up on the Boardwalk and just, you know, go from door to door and make money.

You'd go up, in the old days, there used to be auctioneers throughout the Boardwalk.

I think they closed back in the '80s, but there were auction galleries.

So the big thing was for children in these neighborhoods to run up and say, you know, do you need anything?

You need a couple, you know, you were little gophers, you'd be seven, eight, nine, 10 years old, and you know, just go up, you'd get their lunch or whatever they needed, and they were always so generous.

They were mostly from New York, had a lot of money, the auctioneers.

And a hey kid, they hand a two or three dollars, and wow, it was great.

It was a place where there was, I mean, 24 hours a day.

Absolutely, exciting, very exciting.

["Danny Boy" violin version] And this is our front, watch your step.

That's our front yard.

Take a look out there.

["Danny Boy" violin version] It was built, and it was operating as a bar and an inn.

And the inn was always a seasonal business.

It was operating illegally as a speakeasy, during prohibition.

["Danny Boy"] What you see now is not what existed when we bought it.

We wanted the Irish Pub to be representative of an Irish pub in America, celebrating the people that made America great.

["Danny Boy" violin version] I made it a point that when these places, before they were demolished, I would buy a piece here and a piece there, because they were selling off some of the pieces.

So there were pieces that were here that are Victorian, since the days that it opened here.

But there were several pieces that I would buy, so they would be representative of those beautiful hotels that existed.

- [Steve] And they're here.

- Yes.

- With us.

- There are some of the pieces that are with us, yes.

["Danny Boy" violin version] [people speaking distantly] - Hello.

- [Interviewer] How are you?

- I'm good, I'm good.

- [Interviewer] So this is a street that's very familiar to you?

- Yeah, very familiar.

St James Place is the street I grew up on, and the hotel, the New SeaCrest Hotel that I grew up in is behind that building.

We can't see it from here, but the, the old girl is still standing.

Well, my name is Molly Golubcow, and I am a Jersey girl, 100% a Jersey girl, and specifically an Atlantic City girl.

And spent, oh, a good 10 years of my life, my teenage years, especially, growing up on St. James Place in Atlantic City, and have many, many fond memories of this street and the Boardwalk.

In fact, every inch of this Boardwalk has wonderful memories for me.

I live a few miles, two and a half miles, in the opposite direction.

And the Boardwalk is so conducive to taking bike rides.

And I love biking.

I love biking on flat surfaces, and this is one of my stops.

- [Interviewer] How often do you pedal over?

- You know, sometimes once a week, sometimes more, sometimes less.

And if guests come in for a weekend, this is part of the tour, definitely part of the tour.

- [Interviewer] When I went back to my childhood neighborhood, I was washed over with emotion, and thoughts, and memories.

Can you tell me what it is like for you as somebody, you come frequently, but what do you feel even today, even though you do it often?

- I still feel nostalgic, and there's so many memories.

Every piece of wood on this Boardwalk has a memory for a child who grew up in Atlantic City.

But especially this street because I lived in the hotel, my parents owned the hotel and the cast of characters that went in and out of there were beyond memorable.

And for a kid to grow up right by the Boardwalk, by the beach, with piers, to my left piers, to my right amusement, cotton candy, Kohr Brother Ice Cream.

I mean, it's a dream come true.

And coming back here, even as an adult, it gets me.

- Yeah, - It does.

- [ Interviewer] And the Irish Pub was there when you were growing up.

- Yeah, Irish Pub was there, yes.

Yeah, definitely a fixture on St. James Place, and a landmark even today.

- [Interviewer] But a lot of the places, most of the places that you knew in those years when you were growing up here, are gone.

- Are gone, yes, yes.

So I think the fact that the SeaCrest Hotel, my parents' hotel is still standing, and the Irish Pub is not only standing, but thriving.

That also makes my day to see those two still around.

You know, most people who grow up in a suburban setting have the same neighbors on either side of their house, for possibly their entire life, their entire childhood.

But if you grow up on a street like St. James Place that had hotels, and bars, and restaurants, and then tourists coming and going through the summer season, it's a whole different world.

My friends who live in Ventnor and Margate, the residential towns near Atlantic City, [chuckling] they had a sleepy summer.

You know, an exciting evening for them would be going up on the Boardwalk or to get some ice cream, or hanging out in a pavilion when you're a teenager.

Just hanging with friends, and I'm here on St. James Place, and my playmates are pimps, and maybe a prostitute or two, and a drag queen.

So completely different world.

You know, my parents never said, "Stay away from that person."

Or "Don't talk to her."

Or "Don't talk to him."

So, you know, as a kid, if your parents don't tell you that this person is dangerous, or someone you don't want to associate with, you don't.

And we all seemed to get along, famously in many cases.

- [Interviewer] I guess there was also a time in history when parents were less of that helicopter.

- No, no, no helicopters on this street, no, no.

[laughing] I mean, my parents were running a hotel 24, 7, it's literally 24 7 job.

And as it turns out, I was a good kid.

I was near lots of trouble.

I was near lots of people who could get in trouble, and did get in trouble.

But, you know, I seemed to skate by anything really, really bad.

So I survived.

[laughing] [light piano music] [jazz piano version "Danny Boy"] [jazz piano version "Danny Boy" continues] - [Interviewer] Tell me about Christmas at the Irish pub.

- Christmas is magical, you know, because it's something that, it's like walking into a set in a Dickens film or something.

Because as I said, I love to decorate.

I have a magnificent nativity set that we display on the front porch.

See that set up there, look.

Joe, see this?

- Uh huh.

- Look up there where I'm pointing.

- [Joe] Okay.

- And it's an antique set, it's absolutely beautiful.

I decorate every square inch of the pub and the lobby, and I've collected pieces throughout the years.

So I have a lot of pieces that you can't even find today.

So you know, it's a lot of fun.

This little log over here, this electric log.

And this mantle, oh geez, my dad used to put it out every year for Christmas, and I do the same thing.

So it goes way, way, way back.

This year, my new edition that I absolutely love, and I'm so happy that I gave him a home.

His name is Finnegan.

- [Interviewer] Oh, let's see.

- And he's wonderful.

And he brings so much joy to people, and I absolutely love him.

Do you wanna meet Finnegan?

- [Interviewer] Yeah, please.

- Come right over here.

[jazz piano version "Danny Boy"] There's Finnegan.

- [Interviewer] An Irish reindeer.

- Yes that's right, and everybody loves him.

- [Interviewer] Do you feel let down after Christmas is over?

- No, because now I'm looking forward to St. Patrick's Day.

There's always something going on at the Irish Pub.

So we have St. Patrick's Day to look forward to.

And the day after St. Patrick's Day, we here, created a new holiday, it's called Bag Day.

- [Interviewer] Bag Day.

- Bag Day.

- God help us all.

We're going into Bag Day.

There's really no telling what we're going to find.

A lot of bags, for sure.

Why am I talking like this?

It's St. Patrick's Day, day after St. Patrick's Day at the famous Irish Pub.

Oh, look, who's gonna be here?

Kelsey Grammer from "Cheers."

Cheers, y'all, let's go in.

[cheery music] - Happy, Bag Day - Let's go, Bag Day!

- Bag Day.

- Bag Day.

- Bag Day.

- Happy Bag Day 2023!

- Bag Day is, I'm not sure.

[women laughing] - Bag Day.

- Bag Day.

- No bag, no booze.

- Bag Day is like a lot of things, it's a legend.

25 years ago, Cathy Burke, the proprietor, started a holiday.

- Bag Day is 25 years of history for service workers or workers in the Atlantic City that couldn't celebrate St. Patrick's Day because they're working the holiday.

As we call it, as a holiday.

- Happy Bag Day.

- I like trash, I'm Oscar the Grouch, ah, ah, ah, scram!

[cheery upbeat music] - So these women showed up one Saturday after St. Patrick's Day, and they were at the bar.

- And a couple of the other girls that were sitting in the bar just decided to put paper bags on their head.

- I believe the story goes, John Delva's wife came in and all of her girlfriends were out, and they all came in with bags on their head.

- And disappointed that they had missed the St. Patty's Day activities.

And the bartender supposedly handed them a couple of paper bags, which they put on their head to have their own celebration.

And like a lot of things, that caught on.

And here we are today, where everybody that comes wears a crazy costume, a great hat.

- Now the Irish Pub's open 24/7/365.

But on Bag Day, the crowds arrive at oh, 9:00 AM with bags decorated on their heads.

- When you clock outta work, you can roll into the Irish Pub and still enjoy a little bit of the holiday.

Or you can have a bag over your head, because you're very hungover, and you have the bag of shame.

But either way, there's two great traditions and it's just uniquely Atlantic City.

- I mean, I've heard about it over the years, never experienced it, and this is the first, and it has been an amazing experience.

- It's just a great way to stretch the St. Patty'S Day weekend holiday out one more day.

And as you can see today, we've had bagpipes here, and various musicians.

And Bag Day is just a really fun tradition.

It's getting bigger and bigger every year.

- It's extreme, and it's something that any bar would probably want.

The day after St. Patrick's Day to be more crowded than St. Patrick's Day.

That's unbelievable.

- That's what started Bag Day.

[gentle piano music] - What I think this particular, it's almost like a living museum now, isn't it?

Honestly, represents Cat's love for her home.

- When you walk into the Irish Pub, you know what you're gonna get.

You're gonna get a wonderful experience.

I've told Cathy this, if I've told her one time, I've told her a million times, "The worst time I ever had at the Irish Pub was great."

- Things change a whole lot.

But one thing I can thank God for, the Irish Pub has not changed.

- And in a world where things are changing, and especially today, so quickly, where, you know, with internet and iPhones, and everything is so fast paced, it's nice to know that a piece of Atlantic City history is frozen here.

- Even if it's the first time you've been here, and whether you're solo or you're with a group, as soon as you walk through that door, because of the nostalgia here, you sense it, you sense it, you know it.

Look around you, right?

It's incredible, and you sense that.

And at that minute you realize, I'm in the right place.

- I think it gives us a sense of stability, number one, where, you know, no matter what's going on, your life can be crazy.

I can go here, I can relax.

I know the people, I'm going to feel good.

They make me feel good about myself.

And that's what you look forward to.

You can't find that everywhere, especially these days.

- It's not slick, it's homey, it's welcoming.

The best Irish coffee you ever had.

And Cathy's spirit imbues the Irish Pub.

So I never come to Atlantic City without going to the Irish Pub, never.

- It's almost like a banner in my heart, that I get to come back to where I came as a young man and still feel this sense of celebration about it.

It's a great thing.

[light piano music] - [Interviewer] I heard while we were filming here, that St. James place, the location of the Irish Pub, is mathematically speaking, the square that is most often landed on in the game of Monopoly.

Have you heard that?

- I've heard that, I didn't research it, but I have heard that.

- [Interviewer] Why do you think most people land on St. James Place?

- The Irish Pub.

- [Interviewer] Alright, last question for you.

I'm going to read lyrics of a song to you, and then I'm gonna ask you about it.

"Making your way in the world today takes everything you've got.

Taking a break from all your worries sure would help a lot.

Wouldn't you like to get away?

Sometimes you just wanna go where everybody knows your name and they're always glad you came.

You wanna go where you can see the troubles are all the same.

You wanna be where everybody knows your name."

- "Cheers."

- [Interviewer] Do you think like me, that that lyric, that song, describes the Irish Pub?

- Absolutely, 100%.

And I'll bet you the person that wrote those lyrics was in the Irish Pub.

["Danny Boy"] - [Narrator] The Irish Pub is a place of the past.

History literally covers the walls and actually even the ceilings.

There isn't a square inch of the place that doesn't somehow signify the good old days.

["Danny Boy"] Memories are fresh on the minds, and ready on the lips of those that gather in and around the bar.

The Irish Pub you see, is more than just a bar and an Inn.

It isn't just a collection of old memories, because it's also in the business of making new ones.

["Danny Boy"] In short, this conversation piece, this story starter, this bygone by the shore, is where history lives because it's where history is lived.

It calls us to always remember, and to be memorable, always.

["Danny Boy"] Praise be the Irish Pub and all the places that make us feel at home, forever.

["Danny Boy" acoustic guitar version] ["Danny Boy" acoustic guitar version continues] ["Danny Boy" electric guitar version] ["Danny Boy" electric guitar version continues] ["Danny Boy" electric guitar version continues] ["Danny Boy" electric guitar version continues] ["Danny Boy" electric guitar version continues] ["Danny Boy" electric guitar version continues] ["Danny Boy" electric guitar version continues] ["Danny Boy" electric guitar version continues] ["Danny Boy" electric guitar version continues] ["Danny Boy" electric guitar version continues] - [Distant Speaker Shouting] Hey Steven, put a coat on!

[no audio]