The Blarney Stone, the legendary Fields Corner bar and restaurant that has been a common ground gathering spot in Dorchester for more than two decades, is likely to change ownership and close later this summer, as the current owners pursue a new opportunity to open a second location of their very popular Milkweed restaurant on Morrissey Boulevard.

The Blarney’s Dorchester Avenue location has been a go-to location for birthday parties, political fundraisers, and televised sports events since 2001, when it re-opened after an extensive renovation converted it into the neighborhood’s hottest nightspot, driven in part by its then-groundbreaking outdoor patio. More recently, and particularly since Covid hit the industry hard, the Blarney has struggled to regain staff and customers.

Ben Johnson, who has co-owned the bar with his partner and close friend Dave Cawley since 2012, said that they have made the emotional decision to sell the business in part because of the difficulty, but also because they have an opportunity to open a version of their other joint venture, Milkweed, in Dorchester.

Located in Mission Hill, the original Milkweed is housed in a space (1,100 square feet) that is dwarfed by Blarney Stone’s roughly 5,000 square feet on Dot Ave. It focuses on breakfast, brunch, dinner, and cocktails, and has developed a strong and loyal base of customers, who rave about the brunch items.

Johnson and Cawley have a plan to lease a currently vacant corner space in a strip mall on Morrissey Boulevard that was formerly a Boston Market restaurant. The partners have an agreement to lease and re-open a Milkweed, which Johnson says will fill a void and serve the neighborhood that they have grown to love.

“Milkweed, for us, is hopefully the future,” Johnson, 50, told The Reporter last week. “It’s a mix of a diner, and brunch spot, and café. It has a brighter vibe.”

Of the Morrissey site, he says: “We love the location and the space. It’s a corner unit, and that’s important for the concept with a lot of windows. It has parking.”

Like its Mission Hill sibling, the Dorchester Milkweed will be a cozy space, perfect for breakfast meetings over coffee and omelettes.

Still, Johnson admits that it’s a bittersweet decision. He has been attached to Fields Corner since 1994 when he started working as a bartender at the old Blarney Stone bar as a 20-year-old student fresh to the US from his native County Meath in Ireland. Back then, the Blarney was still in its original 1960s layout, with a long, galley-style bar and a separate room for diners and functions. It attracted an older crowd of morning drinkers and after-work tradesmen, many of them fellow Irishmen from Galway and Donegal.

When the next generation took ownership in 1999, Mike Conlon, Jr., decided to transform the space into what was – at the time – Dorchester’s hottest bar and restaurant, with the most diverse and welcoming vibe in the city. Conlon recruited Johnson, who by then had moved back home to Ireland, to return to help him run the reimagined Blarney Stone.

He agreed, but with a condition. “I said, ‘Yeah, but I’m not going anywhere without Dave.’”

Cawley and Johnson are buddies from high school buddies who were at the time laboring to keep a city pub alive in the centre of Sligo, Ireland. They returned to Dorchester as minority owners of the Blarney, both of them pouring pints and routinely working seven-days-a-week from open to close.

“It was so busy back then,” recalls Johnson, who said they considered changing the name because they didn’t want the bar to be considered just another Irish hangout.

“Myself and Dave loved everything about being in America and Boston,” he said. “We wanted it to be for the community.”

Blarney Stone owners Ben Johnson and Dave Cawley will wind down operations in Fields Corner this summer, and pursue a new opportunity on Morrissey Boulevard under the flag of their sister-operation, Milkweed, which has a big following at its Mission Hill location. Seth Daniel photo

That vibe caught on— and the renovated Blarney Stone became perhaps the most diverse eatery and night spot in Boston in the aughts— and it has kept that reputation up to the present day. It has hosted receptions for every lawmaker and city councillor on this side of the Columbia Road for two decades. It also became a home away from home for running clubs, LGTBQ football teams, along with teachers, mail carriers, and Boston cops.

“It was just crazy diverse from day one,” says Johnson, who adds: “We were just used to being hospitable from our days working in Ireland. We only ever wanted to be a community place.”

Since word started to filter out about a sale, Johnson said he’s had plenty of inquiries from regulars old and new.

“People are happy for us, but there’s a little sadness, too. People have so many memories formed here – Red Sox playoff games in 2004, Patriots Super Bowls. And the events that we hosted, that’s what I loved the most. I was happy we could cater to people and I’m definitely proud of that.”

Johnson does not have much information about what might replace the Blarney Stone space. The new buyers, according to Boston Restaurant Talk, includes Yancarlo Fernandez, who intends to open an establishment called Acapella’s. The city’s licensing board heard a petition from Fernandez’s lawyer on June 5 to consider the proposed sale of the Blarney’s liquor license.

According to Universal Hub, “Fernandez is planning on new décor and furniture, but will leave the basic bones of the room… the same.”

There are no definitive dates yet, either for a last call at the Blarney or for first plate at the Morrissey Milkweed. Johnson says they’ll get the word out via social media to invite the community in for a farewell day or two in Fields Corner when the time is right. They’d also welcome customers to share photos from memorable days or nights at the Blarney on their Instagram account or Facebook.