[PSGallery=1o5d7l18hc]

Back to The Irish Times Photo Gallery Page

A generous and devoted friend, family man and community servant, Michael retired in 2006 after 20 years of success as an Allstate Insurance Agent in Rockland County. While serving on local area boards and supporting his younger brother, Tom’s Vino 100 wine shop on the Newburgh waterfront. Michael currently was pursing entertainment projects that fused his passion for the great outdoors with his love for sporting, travel and the culinary arts.

Always seeking a purer, more authentic form of living, Michael enjoyed nothing more than opening his home up to family and friends with good food, laughter and “happiness” (Michael’s penchant for spontaneous, year-round gift-giving). One always felt safe in Michael’s presence – buoyed by his own quest to live life to the fullest without prolonged worry or regret. “To the good life always” was his motto and favorite toast – and through Michael’s instinct for teaching, it became a common faith with all those who loved him.

Michael was born in the Bronx on December 27, 1962, to Falco and Grace Settino, and grew up in Pearl River. A graduate of Syracuse University with a background in English and communications. Michael married Mary Winn Gordon of Mississippi on August 30, 1997, the two loved walking their dog Charlie Bear through Newburgh and traveling together, especially to their “home away from home” in Cape May, NJ.

A member of Newburgh’s Powelton Club, Michael’s community efforts included serving on the Board of Directors for Trestle Inc., and he was past President of Big Brothers and Sisters of Rockland County.

In a text message to a friend a year ago on one of his many hunting adventures, Michael related the words inscribed on a sign he had given to his host: “Cool breeze, warm fire, full moon, empty plates, tall tales, short sips, long life, to the days that are!” Michael added: “I could’t have said it any better!” The same could be said of the way he lived. For Michael, there were “no boundaries” in the Big woods he traveled to in Maine, and in his mind. And there never will be.

We’ll miss Mike, Irish Wednesday’s will never be the same, but we know you have a perfectly poured Guinness close by…
Your Friends at The Irish Times

The Irish Times of Philadelphia promises to offer patrons “a true taste of Ireland.” Located at 2nd and Bainbridge Streets, The Irish Times provides full dining seating as well as bar seating on two different levels.

Featuring two bars, the pub is well-equipped for crowds of any size and has extremely fast service. The Irish Times offers an excellent choice of classic pub favorites and traditional cuisine (bangers and mash recommended), all very reasonably priced. Customers receive a full amount of food, even in the appetizer serving.

Compared to other places in the area, The Irish Times has a friendly staff interested in conversation. They are knowledgeable about mixed drinks as well as the components of a great beer. The split-level appearance of The Irish Times allows for an intimate dinner or a casual drink all in one setting.

Fully equipped with five plasma televisions, The Irish Times displays both local and Irish sports, such as rugby. Rather significant in this city of independence, the original building now occupied by The Irish Times was built in 1916, the same year as Ireland’s Easter Rebellion.

Traditional music lovers will find an Irish music session every Thursday night, and those wanting a full breakfast can eat their fill during weekend mornings.

Copyright © 2008 Examiner.com. All rights reserved.

Click to learn about The Trevor Andrew Pierson Foundation

Click Here To Read a Wonderful Tribute To Trevor

The art of distilling is believed to have been brought to Europe through Irish missionary monks. The knowledge of distilling spread through the Church and eventually reached beyond the monastery walls. The oldest licensed whisky distillery in the world, Bushmills, lies in Northern Ireland and received its license by Jacob VI in 1608.

Irish whiskey was immensely popular in Britain during the eighteenth and nineteenth century. In 1779 an astonishing 1200 distilleries existed on Ireland, and most of them were unlicensed. The many illicit distilleries soon forced the government into action and a period of tax raises and increased awareness by government officials followed. In 1822 only 20 legal distilleries existed and the number of illegal distilleries had been reduced to about 800.

The number of distilleries was further reduced due to the Total Abstinence Movement which was inaugurated in 1838 by Father Theobald Mathew. The movement created an increased competition between the many Irish distilleries which resulted in continued growth for the larger companies at the expense of the smaller distilleries who often had to shut down. The families Jameson and Powers from Dublin were among the most successful and managed to continuously expand their businesses.

In spite of the problems at home, Irish whiskey was by 1900 the leading strong spirit in Britain. Large quantities were also exported to the West Indies and to the US market. It would take two major setbacks working together with the abstinence movement to break the success of the Irish whisky industry; the introduction of Scotch blended whisky and the US Prohibition. When the Prohibition finally was over, the damaged Irish whisky industry could not produce the volumes needed by the awakened US market. Because of the development of continuous distillation in Scotland, their new blended whisky could easily meet the increased demand and the Scottish whisky industry boomed.

In the early 1960s the export of Irish whiskey was virtually nonexistent and survival seemed threatened even on the native Irish market. In 1966 three of the remaining distilleries therefore joined forces in a new company called the Irish Distillers (IDL). The three distilleries were John Powers & Sons, John Jameson & Sons and Cork Distillery. In 1975 the new company moved all its production to a new £9 million distillery, Midleton. The new Midleton distillery was built behind the old Midleton Distillery which today houses the reception area and visitor centre. In another effort to reduce costs, IDL also ceased to sell through middlemen which naturally angered many agents.

In spite of the efforts, IDL would not remain in Irish hands for long; in just a few years Seagram’s had bought both IDL and Bushmills – the last remaining independent distillery on Ireland. Initially Seagram’s kept production active at the Bushmills, Midleton and Coleraine distilleries although Coleraine was put to rest in 1978. The remaining two distilleries Bushmills and Midleton produced 15 whiskey brands, 4 vodka brands, two gin brands and one rum brand. Although this does not sound so bad, the Irish whisky industry now held only one percent of the global whiskey market.

Seagram’s were not happy with their investment and started getting rid of some of their shares in the late 1980s. The French company Pernod Richard seized the opportunity and made a bid for the remainder of Seagram’s shares. Seagram’s accepted the £4.5 million bid and the Irish whisky industry passed to Pernod Richard who remained Ireland’s only whisky producer until 1989 when John Teeling founded the Cooley Distillery –currently Ireland’s only independent Irish whisky distillery.

Types of Irish Whiskey:
Irish whiskey comes in several forms. There is single malt whiskey made from 100% malted barley distilled in a pot still, and grain whiskey made from grains distilled in a column still. Grain whiskey is much lighter and more neutral in flavour than single malt and is almost never bottled as a single grain. It is instead used to blend with single malt to produce a lighter blended whiskey.

Unique to Irish whiskey is pure pot still whiskey. While single malt from both Scotland and Ireland is distilled only in a pot still, the designation “pure pot still” as used in Ireland generally refers to whiskey made of 100% barley, mixed malted and unmalted, and distilled in a pot still. The “green” unmalted barley gives the traditional pure pot still whiskey a spicy, uniquely Irish quality. Like single malt, pure pot still is sold as such or blended with grain whiskey. Usually no real distinction is made between whether a blended whiskey was made from single malt or pure pot still. Only Redbreast, Green Spot (which is sold only through Mitchell and Son vintners in Dublin), and some premium Jameson brands are pure pot still whiskies. All of these are distilled at Midleton.

Irish whiskey is believed to be one of the earliest distilled beverages in Europe, dating to the mid-12th century (see Distilled beverage). The Old Bushmills Distillery lays claim to being the oldest licenced distillery in the world since gaining a licence from James I in 1608.

Reference: The Whiskey Guide © Copyright 2005, Chill Communications, all rights reserved.

Any place that serves beer can call itself a bar
A Pub is something more

It’s a place to meet friends
Not to get seen by strangers

A place for talking over good times
Not shouting over techno

It’s time pubs were celebrated
After all, our Ale’s been served in them for centuries

So here’s to the pub
May you find it in every pint

NFL Sunday Ticket:

Watch all the action and your favorite teams, enjoy drink and food specials during all games.

Happy Hour:
Join us Monday – Friday from 4:00 PM -8 PM for Happy Hour at The Irish Times. Enjoy $2.00 Domestic Drafts and Bottles, and Half Priced Appetizers…

The Irish Times Draft Club:
Join The Irish Times Draft Club, it’s free and membership has it’s rewards. See any bartender or server and ask for your Draft Club Card.

Irish Wednesdays
Every Wednesday from ALL DAY, enjoy $3.00 Guinness, Harp and Smithwick’s Drafts.

Every Thursday Live Irish Music Session…
Join Harold Dunn, legendary Fiddler, and his friends for a Traditional Irish Music Session, each and every Thursday. The music starts are 8:30 PM so be sure to come early for dinner and drinks…
Enjoy $4.00 Guinness, Smithwick’s and Harp Drafts from 9:00 PM – 12:00 AM

Friday’s Live Music with Cletus McBride
Enjoy live acoustic music with Cletus McBride. Sit back and enjoy as Cletus plays all your favorite tunes from the 60′s, to present.

Set Price Dinner Special
Begining at 5:00 PM choose from any Appetizer, Entree and Dessert for just $22.50. Now that’s a special you can’t pass up.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW OUR MENU…

Irish Breakfast-Weekend Brunch
Gather your friends and enjoy our new Weekend Brunch, every Saturday and Sunday starting at 10:00 AM. Click Here to see the menu, and we’ll see you for Brunch at The Irish Times!

Happy Hour MS Fund-raiser
Join MS Pizza Team 22,  every last Thursday of the month for a fun and fund-raising happy hour, to help cure MS. The party starts at 5:00 PM so help us help the fight for a cure.

Watch all Premier Soccer Games on one of our 5 giant Plasma TV’s.

No Cover Championship and Premier Soccer Games

Friday September 5th, 2008
Everytime my wife and I eat here, the food is perfect. My favorite is the Fisherman’s Pie-but after trying my wife’s fish tonight, I may be going back to eat dinner while watching the game on Sunday!
Noah
Philadelphia, Pa

Sunday August 17th, 2008
We received an advertisement in our mail last week and decided to give The Irish Times a try and I am glad we did. I love to eat and not only was the food quite tasty, the portions we huge. My kind of place for sure.  Before we ate, we had a drink at the bar and chatted with the bartender who was genuinely interested in making us feel welcome.  He poured a wonderful pint of Guinness and smiled as he served it. My wife and I both agreed that The Irish Times will be one of our regular stops.
The Conners
Philadelphia, Pa

Monday, June 30th, 2008
My wife and I decided to give the irish times a try after some friends had some good things to say. We were sad to see the black door close but we’re now glad that the irish times is now there. The staff was friendly, the food was quite good and we enjoyed our dinner. We plan to go back soon and bring some friends for a night out.
Michael Hanna
Philadelphia, Pa

Monday, May 5th, 2008
I came in this past Monday night for he first time and I was pleasantly surprised by everything. I felt so welcomed by the bartender and the atmosphere was very cozy. The bartender was very easy on the eyes, and was a great conversationalist! Also, the food was great, and I had a perfectly poured Guinness!
Thomas Cline
Philadelphia, Pa.

Tuesday, March 12, 2008:
My wife & I, along with some of my family, came in for lunch about a week ago and WHAT A TREASURE! We’re from Arizona and came for a wedding and to see the historical sights, but the experience at Irish Times became one of our favorite memories! I had bangers & mash with a tall Hoegaarden beer…it was amazingly great! We’ll be back…
Doug & Debbie Haeussle
Prescott Valley, AZ

Monday February 25th, 2008:
I am new to the area and received an advertisement in my mail, so I decided to give The Irish Times a try. I don’t know many people in the area but the staff made me feel right at home. As soon as I sat at the bar, I was greeted with a genuine smile from the bartender, ordered my drink and checked out the menu. Too make a long story short, I was so glad that I had decided to give it a try. The food was fantastic, the service was great and I have to admit, I was really impressed. I met a few friendly people who were also having dinner, which made my entire experience, that much better. The Irish Times is my new favorite place!
Lisa Williams
Philadelphia, Pa

Saturday February 23rd, 2008:
Last night, my husband and I stopped for a night cap only to discover the most wonderful little pub. Smelling the food, coming from the kitchen, we had wished we went there for dinner. The Irish Times is wonderful. The atmosphere is friendly, the staff top notch and the owners attentive to the customers.
Ken and Joann
East Norriton, Pa

Thursday February 14th, 2008:
“My wife and I came to the Irish Times for Valentine’s Day with the hope of finding another traditional pub that we were used to. What we found was exactly that…the food was excellent and our server was very attentive. Our pleasant surprise was when the musicians came in. We wanted to stay until the closing (we’ll do that later). We are telling our friends what we found and so close.”
Thanks,
Ed Bilger
Philadelphia, Pa