The Scotch egg erupts with a crunch as Jason Lilly cuts into it. A tendril of steam spirals toward the ceiling in the creamsicle-colored dining room of The Irish Rover.
Lilly has been coming here for about two decades.
“Well, right here is one of the big reasons,” he says, dipping a bit of egg in a pot of hot mustard. “Their Scotch egg and fish and chips are the best in the town.”
Across the room, a group of women, all in green, plan a trip to Ireland over plates of beef stew and Welsh rarebit, a gooey cheese sandwich with mustard and fries.
Owners Michael and Siobhan Reidy have been running The Irish Rover in Clifton for more than 30 years. Siobhan prefers to run the finances and other behind-the-scenes tasks. Michael is the front man.
“We're like two horses and a plow going up to the top of the hill, pulling the plow. We know exactly where we have to turn,” Michael Reidy said. “We don't confuse our duties. Sometimes we don't live up to them, but we don't confuse them.”
Reidy grew up on a 75-acre dairy farm in Knockerra, a small township in west Ireland. He and his father milked cows by hand.
“I learned the value of work, I learned the value of life, and I learned the value of neighbors,” Reidy said.
The pair married and moved to Louisville in the late 80s.
Around that time, Reidy’s new father-in-law asked him a question.
“He said, ‘Have you ever worked in a pub?’ I said, ‘Well, I worked up a thirst in a pub.’ He says, ‘Well maybe you could go on the inside of the bar and work your way out!’”
That’s exactly what they’ve done.
The Reidys treasure growing with the community. One upside of being around for so long is seeing customers mature.
“Families come in here proudly saying, we got engaged here, or we held hands at a table, this table over here when we first met,” Reidy said.
One such couple is Jay Jackson and Janet Zeller, who were married at The Irish Rover more than 20 years ago in a somewhat impromptu ceremony.
“Many people get married under the Virgin Mary or crucifix. We stood beneath the holy picture of Michael Reidy in shorts here by the fireplace,” Jackson said with a chuckle.
Zeller is proud to call the Reidys friends.
“We've watched his kids grow up, and he's been part of our family too. We're lucky. Not everyone gets that.” she said.
Customer photos dot the walls inside the restaurant.
When he hears a customer is planning a trip to his motherland, Reidy has one request.
“All I want from you is a picture, your best picture. I want you to put it on my wall. I want you to sign it,” he said.
One photo shows what Reidy calls a “traditional Irish breakfast” of baked beans and bacon. In another, sheep graze on rolling hills of green. Handwritten scrawl at the edge of the photo says “misty morning, County Mayo, Ireland.” Yet another shows two, well-dressed older men, sitting against a stone wall.
“I switch them up every so often. When I do, I call the people that took it and say, you've gone up today,” Reidy said.
Every other year, the Reidys host trips to Ireland and Scotland with the help of a touring agency.
Debbie Harris has been on multiple tours with them and says the journeys expand her sense of empathy.
“You don't know what people have been through until you see, and you go through the museums there and see how you know the people survived that famine and what they had to do, and it's amazing,” Harris said.
Beyond the Guinness, Scotch eggs, and smoked salmon, Reidy says his main priority is forging bonds of love with the community.
“Love of food, love a good drink, love a good time, good laugh, share, shake the hand, arm around the shoulder and a tear in the eye, because you empathize with somebody who's gone through a bad time.”
