Kilkenny Marks a Year with Irish Tunes, Prizes

You could say Barry O’Donovan is very observant.

“When bringing my kids to school, I couldn’t believe how many Kevins and Pats and Shawns there were,” he said of the Cranford School System. “There was a big Irish Community but no Irish Pub.”

Thus, the Kilkenny House Restaurant and Pub, located on 112 South Avenue East, was born.

The pub will be celebrating its one-year anniversary Thursday with a performance by The Itinerants from 9 to midnight. But the party continues to Sunday as the Kilkenny House introduces its newest promotion: traditional Irish music every Wednesday at 7 p.m. and Sundays at 5 p.m.

“It’ll be a group of people who play traditional Irish music,” said O’Donovan, the Kilkenny House’s owner.

In fact, the one-year anniversary party started Wednesday and will run all the way up to September 17, when the Kilkenny House will be hosting its “Halfway to St. Patrick’s Day Party.”

Throughout those dates, the pub will be raffling off several prizes, including a 94-piece Craftsman Tool set, iPod docking station, digital photo frame, t-shirts, beer glasses and more.

Damien Owens, the pub’s manager, said one of his fondest memories of the past year was the St. Patrick’s Day celebration.

“It was the most exciting St. Patty’s Day,” he said. “Everyone was having a good time.”

Jackie D’Arcy, a regular customer at the Kilkenny House, said one of her favorite memories was of the pub’s official opening night.

“Bagpipers stood up on the bar and although it was a big pain that you couldn’t hear yourself think–it was just a blast.”

O’Donovan and his family have lived in Cranford for the last seven years. During most of that time, O’Donovan owned a restaurant in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. He commuted from Cranford to Brooklyn everyday.

“I have two young children and I wanted to be closer to them,” he said. So for the last six years, O’Donovan looked for a restaurant he could buy in Cranford.

“Cranford is a tremendous town,” O’Donovan said. Owens agreed. “It’s the most fantastic thing,” he said. “The people in this area are great people.”

Eventually, O’Donovan purchased Antone’s, renovated it for 4 ½ months and opened as the Kilkenny House, named after his hometown of Kilkenny, Ireland.

“We are now hugely known for our burgers,” O’Donovan said.

On a busy Saturday, the Kilkenny House can serve up over 100 burgers.

“We offer a big hamburger,” O’Donovan said. “One important thing is more meat and less bread. We serve ours on an Irish muffin.”

The menu ranges from traditional Irish favorites, such as Shepherd’s Pie to more Americanized dishes like the NY Strip Steak or the unique O’Donovan Delight, which mixes traditional Irish sausages with mashed potatoes and Irish beans.

The Kilkenny House is very kid friendly, O’Donovan said. “No child is left behind,” he said. “Every kid gets an ice cream or if they can’t have ice cream we give them something else.”

For additional information on the Kilkenny House, go to their Web site www.thekilkennyhouse.com or call them at 908-276-3414.