Visitors to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley, California, are treated to many tableaux from the President’s long, varied life: a re-creation of the kitchen in his childhood home in Illinois, the booth at Chasen’s (the Los Angeles restaurant) where he proposed to Nancy Davis, an exact replica of the Oval Office—and, now, an authentic Irish pub where he hoisted a pint of ale more than 20 years ago.

 

courtesy of the ronald reagan foundation2006_1_56

Visitors to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley, California, are treated to many tableaux from the President’s long, varied life: a re-creation of the kitchen in his childhood home in Illinois, the booth at Chasen’s (the Los Angeles restaurant) where he proposed to Nancy Davis, an exact replica of the Oval Office—and, now, an authentic Irish pub where he hoisted a pint of ale more than 20 years ago. Shortly after Reagan’s death, the Ronald Reagan Pub was transplanted all the way from Ballyporeen, County Tipperary, and rebuilt as part of the new Air Force One Pavilion. Opened last October, the pub honors the fortieth President’s Irish roots. It is also a time machine back to 1984, when he and Nancy made an election-year journey to the Emerald Isle.

Before that trip Reagan’s advance team scouted around Ireland, seeking interesting places for the presidential couple to visit on their four-day trip. When they came across O’Farrell’s Pub in Ballyporeen, ancestral home of the Reagan clan, they knew they’d hit the jackpot. The proprietors, John and Mary O’Farrell had actually named a room in their hundred-year-old operation the Ronald Reagan Salon and were honored to play host (they later renamed the whole establishment for Ronald Reagan). The visit was a smash hit, complete with a ceremony and several now-famous photographs taken of the President and First Lady having a drink and toasting each other. It is the very picture of Irish hospitality and good cheer.

Now move forward 20 years to June 2004. Shortly after Reagan’s death Frederick J. Ryan, Jr., chairman of the board of trustees of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Foundation, made a sentimental trip to Ballyporeen to visit the pub. He found it boarded up. The O’Farrells had just closed and were planning to sell off the fixtures piece by piece. Ryan offered to buy the whole thing for a reported sum of $100,000. When he called Nancy Reagan to tell her about the acquisition, she assumed he’d been drinking a bit too much but quickly warmed to the idea when she realized he was both sober and serious. The O’Farrells packed up every Guinness advertisement and beer tap and shipped them to Southern California.

When the museum staff started unpacking the treasure, they were overwhelmed by the pungent aroma of old beer that escaped from the crates and had permeated every object inside them.