Molly Malone’s Irish Pub, a beloved Los Angeles bar known for its extensive Irish memorabilia, perfect Guinness pours and nightly live music, is temporarily closed after a fire scorched the building.
The blaze largely damaged the exterior of the 95-year-old building that houses the bar, which first opened in 1969. It is not clear when the bar will reopen.
“It was a scary day for our little pub on Fairfax but we are blessed,” owners wrote in an Instagram post Thursday. “Our doors will be shut (for now) but we plan to be back better than ever before you know it!”
Read more: Legendary Clifton’s is reopening in a struggling downtown L.A. Its owner hopes crowds return
The Los Angeles Fire Department received a report at 1:17 p.m. Thursday that the bar at 575 S. Fairfax Ave. was on fire. Firefighters fully extinguished the flames 19 minutes from when they first received the 911 call, said LAFD spokesman Brian Humphrey.
No injuries were reported. Officials have not determined the cause of the fire.
“There was heat and smoke inside the structure,” he said. “But the flames were largely kept to the facade and the exterior of the structure.”
The pub’s dark walls are covered with Irish memorabilia and art, including paintings by Irish portrait painter Neil Boyle. The work depicts both notable Irish figures and the bar’s longtime staff members and customers, according to the bar’s website. Owner Damien Hanlon told KTLA that firefighters saved the historic artwork.
“The LAFD saved us from what could have been much worse,” the owners wrote on Instagram.
The pub, long known as a hangout for musicians, initially featured Irish troubadours performing drinking songs and traditional Irish ditties. But its list of bands has since expanded and the pub now features music from a variety of genres.
The Celtic punk band Flogging Molly got its start — and it’s name — in the 1990s performing at Molly Malone’s.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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