Why Are There So Many Irish Pubs In Chicago?

Curious City

WBEZ Chicago

Society & Culture, Education, Public, Chicago, Arts, City, Radio, Curious, Investigation

4.8 • 642 Ratings

🗓️ 11 July 2024

⏱️ 8 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Many Irish immigrants settled in Chicago in the late 1800s, and opened up pubs to make a living, but for a sense of community. We explore the history and why there are so many Irish pubs today.

Transcript

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0:31.4	It's Curious City, where we take your questions about Chicago and the region, and investigate.
0:37.4	Report.
0:38.0	Explore.
0:38.9	From WBEZ.
0:41.4	Hi, I'm Jessica Puppavac.
0:43.6	When a curious city listener asked about Irish pubs in Chicago and why we have so many compared to other immigrant groups, I was intrigued.
0:52.7	See, I've always known my Irish ancestors owned a pub, but I'm fourth
0:57.3	generation and precious few stories have survived. Honestly, I also thought the answer to the
1:02.9	question might be a little obvious, but luckily, I was wrong. I'm digging that question
1:08.3	because it is a unique phenomenon. Liz Garibay is a beer historian and founder of the Beer Culture Center.
1:14.6	She told me there are several answers to this question.
1:17.6	They include the role of the pub in Irish culture and the large number of Irish immigrants
1:22.6	who came to Chicago around the late 1800s and...
1:26.6	The biggest part, and this might not be a popular answer,
1:31.0	is that we truly loved to romanticize these spaces.
1:33.7	There's something just a little bit magical about that.
	...

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