After 25 years, Port Credit bids farewell to The Brogue Irish Pub with closing celebration

Premises to undergo renovations before reopening as The Donegal Arms

MISSISSAUGA, December 27, 2024 – Fans of a good craic will be sad to hear the long-running Brogue Irish Pub, in Port Credit, is shutting down.

The good news is the venue has been sold, and will soon reopen as The Donegal Arms Irish Pub. 

Owner Tommy Donnelly, his wife Sherry, daughter Shannon and son Sean first opened their doors in 1999 at 136 Lakeshore Road East, promising, “true Irish hospitality”. They’ve done that. And, they’ve given back by hosting such fundraisers as the annual “Polar Bear Dip” in Lake Ontario, on New Year’s Day. 

The Brogue will cease operations on Jan. 1, right after their Polar Bear Dip fundraiser in aid of Ian Anderson House. But not before a big final toast party on December 28, starting at 6 p.m.

“I think this place was always an open door, warm and welcoming to the entire community and to visitors from other parts of the world as well,” Sean offers.

A native of Tralee, County Kerry, Tommy Donnelly has been in the pub business since age 14. He was previously the co-owner of The Harp Pub, a Port Credit hotspot back in the eighties and nineties. It was actually one of the first bars to offer locals regular live entertainment.

“I’m very thankful. I was very pleased to work in Port Credit,” he says. “I came here in 1974 and I loved the area. It was a great community.”

“The Harp started a cultural wave with live music, which was very good. And, Paddy’s Days were legendary (at The Harp, and then at The Brogue).”

At the Brogue, he could take pride in presenting such famed Irish entertainers as Paddy Reilly, and Jim McCann – and in reaching the quarter century mark!

But while Brogue patrons always appreciated the fact it was family-run, Shannon points out, “When we say “Owned and Operated by the Donnelly Family”, we cleaned every day. We didn’t have external people to run our business. It was a lot of work for us.”

This 220-seat room – like so many others – was crushed by the impact of Covid 19 restrictions in 2020.

“For any bar, or any business for that matter, it was really, really challenging, And I don’t think the government, or the city council handled it well,” Tommy comments. “We got shut down on New Year’s Eve, literally. And again, before Paddy’s Day.”

Shannon agrees this was the turning point.

“Towards the end, it was time,” she says. “But Sean and I were very fortunate to meet some incredible people. I met my husband (Hayden) there.”

Now 73, Donnelly departs with mixed feelings. 

“I’ve enjoyed it very, very much. But I’d like to be a granddad, and do a little traveling — like other people do when they’re retired,” he adds.

For incoming partners Mike McLaughlin, Graeme O’Leary and Fred Forster, this will mark their third Irish pub in the GTA, alongside The Wolfetone in The Beach, and the West Cork in Riverdale.

“We’re really pleased,” says McLaughlin, a native of Boncrana, Donegal, who was host of the Brogue’s weekly Trivia Night.

 “When we heard the Donnellys wanted to retire, we thought it would be a shame to lose the legacy of an Irish pub in Port Credit. We want to carry on what they started, and bring it to another level for the community. It’s going to be a very traditional Irish pub.”

After an interior renovation, they hope to reopen well before St. Patrick’s Day!

story by Mike Beggs

photos supplied by the Donnelly family

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