|
|
Durty Nellie's History
Durty Nellie's West Irish Pub
The new Durty Nellie's at 180 N. Smith Street opened its doors on December 19, 2003.
Come and enjoy all that the New Nellie's has to offer:
It is preceded by the original Durty Nellie's, which was located at 55 N. Bothwell in Palatine. The historic building that housed Durty Nellie's was over 100 years old. It was torn down in February 2004. Here is a brief history of Palatine's favorite Irish bar.
A History
Durty Nellie's has been a friendly, neighborhood tavern since 1972. Mark Dolezal took it over in 1988 and gave the establishment its current identity as a noted suburban music room featuring local and national acts, an Irish pub with an extensive list of beers on tap, an outdoor beer garden and a great place for special events, such as the famous Spring and Fall beer festivals, not to mention the week-long St. Patrick's Day events.
Palatine's Durty Nellie's at the 55 N. Bothwell location was modeled after a real Irish pub named Durty Nellie's that was built in 1620 and still stands today. The original Nellie's is near Bunratty Castle in County Clare. Legend has it that the pub was named after a feisty Irish woman who tended bar there in the 1600s. She had a way of getting back at nasty folks who drank there. When they weren't looking, she'd grab a dead mouse by the tail, dunk it a few times into their beer mugs and serve it to them. Once the victims figured out what she was doing, they called her "Durty Nellie" And the name has stuck for four centuries.
A group of airline pilots, who were frequent fliers to Ireland, originally founded this popular suburban spot in 1972 and modeled it after the pub from the 1600s, naming it Durty Nellie's. Prior to the Dolezals taking over Nellie's in the late '80s, the bar changed owners a few times. Since the '70s, the room was known for live music and in the '80s it became a comedy room for a few years.
The building was erected at 53-55 N. Bothwell in 1901. Ira Frye, who owned livery stables nearby, moved his business to the Bothwell building, which was a prime location next to the railroad tracks. The Frye & Putnam Livery Stable was the first business to be housed there. In the 1920s, the building was also used as a barbershop.
Charles Dinse purchased the building in 1924 and added a brick façade to the front side of structure. He turned it into the multi-purpose Dinse's Bowling and Recreation Parlor, which included a barbershop, bowling alley, ice cream parlor and lunch counter. Dinse's establishment thrived through the 1940s. In 1945, he sold the enterprise to Ed Brockman who renamed it the Palatine Recreation Center.
Brockman sold the business to Jack Wilcox in 1947, who added a cocktail lounge, and got rid of the ice cream parlor and barbershop. Jack's Lounge consisted of a tavern, restaurant and bowling alley with the Wilcox family residing on the second floor. Wilcox also owned a shoe store across the street. In the mid-'50s, Wilcox closed the bowling alley and restaurant, due to lack of help, and ran Jack's Lounge as a tavern and packaged liquor store.