""I'm actually Irish, born and raised," says Jen Murphy, owner-operator of the new Manhattan bar Banshee . "I learned a long time ago you actually have to specify that." Murphy, a veteran of the East Village bar scene, moved to the U.S. in 2014. It didn't take long to notice that Irish American pride ran deep enough for people to comfortably declare themselves Irish, even many generations removed-but also that the manifestations of Irish culture in the States weren't always aligned with her experience back home."
"Take the pub: Growing up in a small town in Ireland, she says, it was a place to bring the kids, to celebrate first communions and attend wakes, often with a grocer, gas station, or even funeral home attached. The ubiquitous American "Irish bars," on the other hand, have "become their own beast... that kind of Disney-Irish Times Square thing.""
Jen Murphy opened Banshee in Manhattan to present a truer, nuanced version of the pub rooted in Irish experience. Small-town Irish pubs functioned as community hubs for families, communions and wakes, often linked to other local businesses, while many U.S. Irish bars adopted a commercialized, Disneyfied aesthetic. A new wave of Irish-led bars is reframing that model by introducing cocktails, ambitious chefs, diverse influences and deliberate subversions of expectation. Banshee pairs Guinness and oysters and displays East Village art, while other venues offer traditional music alongside elevated dishes and crafted cocktails.
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