BRUNSWICK, Maine — A little more than three weeks after thousands of gallons of water poured through the ceiling at Byrnes Irish Pub, and three days and a dozen hours before St. Patrick’s Day, owner Joe Byrnes announced Tuesday that the popular eatery will reopen at noon Saturday.
Both the Brunswick location and the original Byrnes Irish Pub in Bath will open at 6 a.m. on St. Patrick’s Day for the traditional “Kegs and Eggs” breakfast, followed by a day that generates close to a week’s worth of business, the owner’s son Pat Byrnes said Tuesday.
Working sometimes 12-hour days since the Feb. 15 flood — triggered when fittings in ceiling pipes let go during a morning of subzero temperatures — dozens of local contractors scrambled to get the pub ready for business before what has historically been its busiest day of the year.
“We left the countdown clock up,” Joe Byrnes said, pointing to the digital clock counting down since last March 17 to this year’s annual celebration of Irish heritage. Byrnes said he explained to each contractor the need to accelerate their work.
The repairs allowed Byrnes to make a number of improvements, including increasing the number of draft beer lines from 25 to 28, upgrading the lighting and building a display shelf for the 100 ceramic Byrnes mugs. And a new draft system “will definitely keep the beer colder,” Byrnes said.
Byrnes said insurance paid for the repairs, and allowed him to pay his staff throughout the closure. Still, he’s thrilled that his vow three weeks ago, “We will be open by St. Paddy’s Day, come hell or high water,” will be honored.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for 3 p.m. Saturday, followed at 4 p.m. by a performance by the Maine Public Safety Pipe & Drum Corps.