On my way to the Sox game Thursday night, I spotted this new sign for Cork and Kerry hanging over 33rd and Princeton attached to the corner bar once home to beloved Jimbo's.
If you don't know the story about the death of Jimbo's, here's the gist.
Recently in Beverly Category
Is there a better guy to eulogize the South Side Irish Parade than that true Chicago character -- the Old Neighborhood's most prolific goofball -- Mike Houlihan?
Oh, heck no.
On Sunday, Houli presented his thoughts on the parade's untimely death (Organizers killed it after certain revelers acted like fools lat year) at a "Parade Wake" at the Beverly Wood Restaurant.
Houli begs the question: Is the parade really dead?
It starts this way:
"Only the Good die young ... and our South Side Irish Paddy's Day parade was oh so young.
Certainly too young to die.
Born on St. Patrick's Day in 1979, she would be 31 years this Wednesday. 31 years. I'm almost twice as old as that.
When I was 31, well, I acted like a goof sometimes myself. But nobody said, "He got drunk and embarrassed us, let's kill him."
No they didn't. They believed in me. They saw the potential for something greater in me and never withdrew their love and support.
But South Side Paddy ... Well, is SHE really dead?
You've got to listen to the rest: SouthSideIrishParadeeulogy.WMA
By the way, James "Skinny" Sheahan -- Mayor Daley's former parade czar -- predicts the parade will be back next year. Why?
Because without it, Beverly is Irish, but "boring."
And take a listen to the Chicago Police Department's Pipes and Drums playing inside Dingers Sunday afternoon: CPDPIPESANDDRUMS.WMA
All that talk of turning Jimbo's Lounge into a John Barlleycorn (i.e. a Cubs bar) appears to be sufficiently dead thanks to outstanding Beverly tavern keeper, Billy Guide of Cork & Kerry on Western. (C&K is probably the most popular joint on the the Western "Death Walk" route, but I like the prices at Sean's Rhino Bar, better.)
My old pal Steve Metsch at the SouthtownStar broke the news Friday while I was battling the flu.
Continue reading Turn Jimbo's into a Cubs bar? Put a Cork (& Kerry) in it!.
Anne Coakley, now 32, was a founding parade marcher of the South Side Irish Parade when she was 2 years old. How cute.
Beverly Artist Jack Simmerling's watercolor calendar makes a triumphant return after an unfortunate year hiatus.
Ol' Jack is a fixture in Beverly, and the guy you go to for the some of prettiest, least cliche, pictures and postcards of Chicago.
He recently completed ...
Continue reading Jack's back.
Ed Heywood has rented apartments to more folks in Beverly than he can remember.
"Heck, I've owned so many buildings in the neighborhood, I've forgotten some of them, too," the 85-year-old landlord says.
But if you ever signed a lease with Old Man Heywood, you know he's a hard guy to forget -- especially if he's ever come banging on your door at 8 o'clock on a Saturday morning. (Read more here)
If you're one of the many folks who've had run-ins with this colorful landlord, post your stories here.
At his best, Mark Konkol is a White Sox fan. He lives on the South Side. He
enjoys cold beer. At one time or another over the last 10 years, he's covered Chicago and Cook County government, city schools, transportation and the ins-and-outs of neighborhood life. E-mail him at mkonkol@suntimes.com.
