RestaurantsBeverly

Fionnuala's

A Beverly pub with a back lounge that has hosted the neighborhood's funeral lunches for thirty years.

About this venue

Origin story

Fionnuala Doyle ran the bar from 1978 until her knees stopped her in 2006, and told her son the back lounge was never to be booked over a funeral. He put it in writing behind the bar, where it still is.

Why families choose us

Nobody in this neighborhood needs the concept explained. You bury someone at eleven, you come here at one, and by three there are people telling stories the family has never heard. We keep the back lounge free for it and we do not take other bookings against a funeral. The kitchen puts out the same thing it has for years — sandwiches, soup, roast beef, a hot Irish breakfast if the family asks — and it goes on the long table so people help themselves. There is a piano nobody minds you playing, a screen if you want photographs on it, and a pipe band that drinks here and has been known to come back in uniform. Children are welcome. So are dogs, which surprises people.

Ownership

Family-owned

Who they serve

Religious tradition

Catholic

Community served

IrishLithuanian

Spaces & pricing

Space

Capacity

Starting price

The back lounge

A long room behind the bar with its own fireplace, a piano and a screen for photographs. It is never booked over a funeral.

110 standing, 70 seated

$300, waived for a funeral lunch of 30 or more

The snug

Eight seats and a door, for the family before everyone else arrives. It is not bookable on its own.

8 seated

Included with the back lounge

Common questions

Can we book the back lounge on short notice?

Almost always. We hold it against other bookings for exactly this, so the answer is usually yes even the same morning.

Can the pipe band play?

They can and they do. The neighbors have heard it before, and we ask only that it happens before nine.

Are children welcome?

Yes, all day in the back lounge. There are coloring books behind the bar and nobody minds noise on a day like that.

What families say

New to EndCo — be among the first. No family has written about Fionnuala's here yet.

Did you work with Fionnuala's?

Reviews here come from families who have actually sat with a member. If you spent time with them, a few sentences about how it went is the most useful thing the next family can read.

Service area

Address

10621 S Western Ave, Chicago, IL 60643

Travels to

Far South Side · Southwest Side

Location

10621 S Western Ave, Chicago, IL 60643

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