Beloved Bay Area Irish Pub Celebrates Life of Co-Founder

In the decades since, the pub has become a South Berkeley institution, serving as much from an arts center to a nightclub to a sort of informal Irish consulate. According to Berkeleyside’s obituary, Starley Plow was the first stop for many Irish immigrants in the Bay Area. Hughes did everything he could to make these new Americans feel at home.

Eileen Hughes wrote in her Berkeleyside obituary:

But it wasn’t just Irish immigrants who felt at home at Starley Plow. Funk Night, a rowdy dance party with live music every Thursday, is a rite of passage for many UC students.

“The Starley Plow was integral to my experience as a UC Berkeley student. Whether I was dancing all night with friends at a funk night or nervously going on stage and singing at an open mic night. as well,” wrote SFGATE’s Madeleine Wells. After a long pandemic hiatus, the bar has reopened. “For the past two years, I’ve been anxiously returning to her Facebook page at the bar, hoping the pandemic didn’t take one of his Bay Area properties like home.”

Starley Plow, and by extension Hughes, meant many things to different people.

“Some people come to Plow for the music, some come for the atmosphere and have a beer. Some simply like the food,” said Shahin, Starley Plow’s manager and Hughes’ grandson. Naima said.

Others came for Starley Plough’s famous connection to radical politics. Named after the flag of Ireland’s socialist movement, the Irish Militia, Starley Plough has served as a stronghold of political activity.

“With its deep roots as the watering hole of the Irish Revolution, the history of the protest movement runs as deep today as it did when it opened 40 years ago,” a banner on the pub’s website reads. increase.

According to those who knew her, Hughes embodied these beliefs. Her obituary in Berkeleyside states that Hughes taught her family to be generous, to share whatever she had, and to stand up to injustice.

Hughes was a regular at the pub, telling jokes and talking to patrons. She was even known to stand up as her bouncer if an offensive character appeared.

When the news of Hughes’ passing was announced on social media, condolences poured in from longtime patrons. Many gave examples of Hughes’ legendary hospitality to strangers.

“Thank you for all your love and support and for accepting and feeding me as a young child,” wrote one Facebook user.

“She…brought four of us from Belfast, watered and fed us and made us feel very welcome,” wrote another.

Those interested are invited to celebrate Hughes’ life at Starley Plow (3101 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley) on Sunday at 3:00 pm.