With his rosy cheeks, twinkling eyes and ginger-brown locks, Joe Bryant looks the very essence of a publican pulling the taps and chatting up the locals at a Dublin pub.
But Bryant isn’t in Ireland’s capital; he’s in Kentucky’s capital. As a co-owner and manager of Dicey Riley’s Irish Pub on St. Clair Street, he has been bringing a bit of the Old Sod to the Bluegrass since the pub’s opening in February of this year.
“I may not be Irish,” says the affable Bryant, “but my business partners are.”
So, too, are many of his customers – mainly workers on the Thoroughbred horse farms in nearby Woodford and Fayette Counties. These sons and daughters of Hibernia have adopted Dicey Riley’s as a sort of clubhouse. And a stylish clubhouse it is, in what was the former home of Patio Pub next door to Brick Alley.
The brick walls, original to the building, are decorated with maps of Ireland, Guiness signs and the tricolored (green, white and orange) Republic of Ireland flag.
An Irish folk channel provides the pub’s soundtrack – at least when there’s no live music, says Bryant.
“We have live music at least once a week and Irish musicians on a monthly basis,” he says.
That means plenty of traditional Irish folk ballads such as “The Foggy Dew,” “The Irish Rover,” “Galway Girl,” and “Molly Malone.”
But this being Kentucky, Bryant says he also slips in some bluegrass music, which he notes “sprang from Irish and Scottish ballads, after all.”
The main draw, however, doesn’t come from what’s on the walls or what’s on the jukebox. It comes from what’s in the taps.
“We have the standard selection of Irish beers – Guinness, Harp Lager (a rich golden pilsner), Smithwick (Irish red, blonde and pale ales), and the like,” says Bryant.
He adds that they also serve Irish whiskys such as Jameson; (the world’s best-selling Irish whisky); Tullimore D.E.W. (a triple blend); Green Spot (a single pot still whisky); Redbreast (an ultra-premium Irish whisky), and Paddy’s (a popular blended whisky).
“Once it becomes available in the U.S., we will also offer Magner’s Cider on draft, and again, because we’re in Kentucky, bourbon is a large part of our inventory,” says Bryant.
Now that you know what Dicey Riley’s does have, you should also know what it doesn’t have. Unlike its counterparts in Ireland, the pub doesn’t have dart competitions or trivia contests. But it will have one thing the Irish version doesn’t.
“I am building a cornhole board which will be available this summer,” says Bryant, adding that he is pondering the idea of starting a cornhole league.
As the pub has no kitchen, don’t expect traditional Irish pub fare such as Shepherd’s Pie, fish and chips, or boxty (a potato pancake filled with meat, fish or veggies).
That doesn’t mean you have to go hungry, however. Bryant says they do serve bar snacks – “pimento cheese and crackers, potato chips, meat and cheese trays – it’s an ever-rotating list, depending on whatever is available at Sam’s Club.”
As for the pub’s unusual name, Dicey Riley comes from a 1967 folk ballad by The Dubliners, whose heroine, Dicey, may have “taken to the sup” – (started drinking) – but still “walks along Fitzgibbon Street with an independent air.”
The musical Dicey Riley may have seen better days, but the same cannot be said for her namesake Frankfort pub. The cozy spot, which accommodates just under 100 people inside and on the front patio (open year-round thanks to strategically placed heaters) has become a local favorite in the five months since its opening.
Come hoist a pint of your favorite Irish libation in a toast to one of Frankfort’s downtown watering holes – “Slainte.”
