The Pub Kevin Doyle Built -- The Celtic Ray in Punta Gorda

The very name Irish Pub carries with it a message of  warmth, comfort and charm.   Pubs that are Irish are in their very essence irresistible... but sometimes in American they disappoint.  They take on a kind of plasticity, a varnish of commercialism, designed rather than embroidered.  Inaccurate and unauthentic translations of  the true Irish town pubs.   This is not the case of our town Irish Pub.  So much so that from the moment you see the back door or the Doyle & Son Publicans house sign and walk through the door to the tiny bar, the original pub, you feel you have arrived somewhere out of time -- a dream pub that has somehow been magically transported by Leprechauns from the old sod to our little town on the southwest coast of Florida.

Yesterday I sat down with the Leprechaun-in-Chief, Kevin Doyle, who has been working tirelessly for the last 15  years or so to transform the historic building on Nestor and Marion to his vision of "not a restaurant or bar, but a place of hospitality."   "We're open every day that ends in a "y," Kevin jokes with me,  "In the hospitality business you have to be open every day."

"We're here for the public, that's why we're called a publck house,"  Kevin told me proudly relating a tale of customer arriving late from a business trip and not being able to find a place open in Punta Gorda to get a bite to eat.  Seeing the welcoming light of the Celtic Ray, the man had stopped by and asked Kevin if he knew a place open where he get something to eat.  "Well I said we have a kitchen what would you like, and I went back at almost midnight and fixed the gentleman something to eat." said Mr. Doyle. And so it is at 1 a.m. or 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the Celtic Kitchen is open.  

On crowded weekends, Kevin, a smallish, thin man with a broad Irish grin...with a twinkle in his eyes moves lithely around the now expanded Celtic Ray.  Its back room, for many years after Hurricane Charly, when Kevin purchased the building next door to his pub, sat in shambles gloomily empty. Currently it supports more customers and a stage for Irish, comedy and other entertainers.    Its  two- story space is surrounded  by a balcony from which pub goers can also view the merrymaking that the Ray brings in almost every weekend and often on some week day nights.   Irish bands like Bobby Vesey and group, Flurgin and many others  now perform in in-door space where in the past the only room the Ray had for performers was on their back outdoor patio, still needed for larger events like the annual St. Patrick's Day celebration.

The Ray is full  of bits and pieces that weaved together create a unique atmosphere of comfort and curiosity... as Kevin says "your living room" away from home. Colors that would ordinary clash boldly blend just about perfectly.  Upstairs you'll find the "confessional," a stain glassed cozy harkening back to a time when women couldn't be seen in bars or pubs and were passed drinks through sliding windows. Bricks, salvaged from old Chicago tear downs line the wall. Guinness kegs serve as an air-conditioning vent.  The haunting words of Van Morrison on the sign in the smaller original pub coax us back here again and again "I've been away from the Ray too long."

The Celtic Ray is open every day from 11:30 a.m. to 2 a.m (Sunday from noon).  There are 12 some European beers on tap in two bars.  An eclectic menu which includes fish and chips, curries, pasties, Irish soda bread, awesome chips with Guinness dip and a variety of other Irish fare is available.  For more information and their current entertainment schedule, visit www.celticray.net.