Reagan at Eire Pub

This weekend will likely be chock-full of remembrances, since Feb. 6 is the 100th anniversary of former President Ronald Reagan's birth.

Dorchester has its own memory of the fortieth U.S. president: He dropped by the famed Eire Pub in 1983. The visit came about thanks to Reagan aide Ed Hickey, a Cedar Grove native.

As Dorchester Reporter publisher Ed Forry noted, after Reagan died in 2004:

Word quickly flashed around town and the news media helped to fill the small barroom, but it turned into more than a quick political "photo op," as Mr. Reagan stayed and greeted all comers.

Current Eire Pub owner John Stenson and bartender Martin Nicholson were on duty that day, and several momentoes of the event still adorn the walls of the pub. Until that day, the Eire was known as a "gentlemen's prestige bar"; in the wake of the Reagan visit, and a later one during the 1992 campaign by candidate Bill Clinton, the Eire now carries the moniker "Presidential Choice."

Photo courtesy of Earl Taylor's Dorchester Illustration of the Day.