Today’s podcast guest is the “Director of Blarney” of the brand-new Shawn O’Donnell’s American Grill and Irish Pub in Uptown Butte.

He is “Irish Johnny,” and that is a name almost everyone in town knows. Johnny might have set a record for the most friends made in the Mining City in the shortest amount of time.

He is off the charts polite, but not in an Eddie Haskell sort of way. No, Johnny is as genuine as they come. He grew up in County Armagh in Northern Ireland, and he dreamed of coming to Butte.

As a boy, he learned of the miracle that is the “Our Lady of the Rockies” statue, which was put in place in 1985 high on a mountain top in what Johnny calls the “Ireland of the Rockies.”

Johnny got his first taste of Butte in 2020, and he fell in love.

Last summer, Johnny and the O’Donnell family purchased Mac’s Tavern and got to work on bringing an authentic Irish pub to Butte. They opened the doors on the beautiful new pub on March 8, nine days before St. Patrick’s Day.

Listen in to this podcast as Johnny talks about growing up in troubling times in Northern Ireland. Listen to how he always dreamed of coming to Butte. Listen to hear what his full name is, and why Shawn O’Donnell’s is a pub where you will not find a television.

Today’s podcast is brought to you by Casagranda’s Steakhouse. Eat where the locals eat.