About 100 patrons tipped their pints last Monday to 61 years of good memories at the Blarney Stone in Fields Corner. The Irish-themed pub, once known for being the first in America to serve “a proper” Guinness, is now officially closed. A new tapas-themed establishment, called Acapella’s, is slated to open at 1505 Dorchester Ave. after renovations.

The event was a moment to look back fondly at good times with the Blarney’s co-owners for the last 23 years, Ben Johnson and Dave Cawley, who swapped stories with long-time regulars and former staff members who “grew up” working at the diverse neighborhood hang-out.

While the tavern has been in business on the block since the 1960s, Johnson started working there in 1994, then came back with Cawley in 1999 when the space was modernized into a restaurant pub with one of the neighborhood’s first outdoor patios. Since then, the favored spot for generations of politicians who started their careers there with their first “times” has become a common ground meeting spot for all of Dorchester.

Mayoral Liaison Anthony Nguyen was on hand to present Johnson and Cawley with certificates of appreciation from Mayor Wu. Former employees like Vincent Gilroy and Melissa Callahan popped by, too.

Gilroy poured the first beer of the “new” Blarney Stone in 2001, Johnson said. “It was a Coors Light,” he said with a laugh after someone insisted it must have been a Guinness.

Callahan said she started as a “busser” at the age of 15 and worked there until she was 29. “I had a mom and dad, of course, but they also raised me here and I moved up to waitress and was manager when I left.”

Some of the tradesmen who had come over from Ireland in the 1990s and “needed to be paid in cash” relayed stories of coming to the Blarney Stone on Friday nights with a check that could certainly be cashed after a pint and a “job” at the pub.

“The safe is still downstairs; it’s huge,” said Johnson. “I was surprised no one ever knocked it off; there was so much cash on Fridays back then.”

But those old memories won’t all go away in Dorchester. Johnson and Cawley, owners of the successful Milkweed Café in Mission Hill, plan to bring a version of that to Dorchester’s Morrissey Boulevard – ideally no later than eight months from now.

Fields Corner Main Streets members Gaitre Lakhan and Jackey West Devine, business owners Junior Pena and Vivian Veth, and Alina Lopez-Thomas gather for the last toast.

Ben Johnson and Dave Cawley with Melissa ‘Missy’ Callahan, who started working at the Blarney as a “busser” when she was 15.

Long-time Blarney Stone customers Peter Withington, Don Callahan, and Joe Carroll hoist a final toast to their favorite establishment.

Jonathan Rogers, Edward Wilson, and Joe Adduci.

Co-owner Ben Johnson with Dorchester’s Louis Ashman.

Bartender Lizzie Lawless served up a cold Guinness draught at the Blarney Stone’s last call.