Every great pub has a story. At Nine Irish Brothers, ours began with a handshake and a promise — Jerry O'Bryan's promise to himself that one day, he would open a real Irish pub.
Jerry is the youngest of nine boys. His brothers: Bert, Jim, Michael, Willie, Norman, Bobby, Tim, and Johnny. He also grew up alongside five sisters — Patricia, Colleen, Muriel, Judy, and Karen — whose presence is honored with an inscription above our bar that reads "& Five Irish Sisters." The name of the pub itself came to a vote, and the result? Nine to five, in favor of the brothers.
For decades, Jerry channeled his entrepreneurial spirit into The Hairman, a campus barbershop that became a Purdue institution. It was a great life, but the dream of the pub never left him. He told his wife Jan early in their marriage that if the other business doesn't work out, he wanted to open an Irish pub. The Hairman worked out beautifully — but after thirty years, two children, and a grandchild later, Jerry decided it was finally time.
He and Jan set out to create something authentic. Not a theme restaurant dressed in green, but a true Irish pub — the kind you'd find on Shop Street in Galway or along the Quays in Dublin. A place where Guinness is poured properly, the food honors the tradition, the music is live, and the atmosphere wraps around you like a warm welcome from a friend.
The family pitched in to build the pubs from the ground up. When the doors opened, the O'Bryans weren't just owners — they were hosts. And that spirit of hospitality has never wavered.
Today, Jerry and Jan's daughter Maggie and her husband Matt carry the torch as the operators. You can still find Jerry and Jan in the pub most days, enjoying what the Irish call the "craic" — the lively, joyful conversation and good cheer that makes a pub feel like home. Their youngest daughter Mollie also pitches in at the West Lafayette location, keeping the family flavor alive, and now their grandchildren Ellie, Jack, and Peyton are working in the business as well. It won't be too many more years before the youngest grandchild, Kinsale, joins the crew.
Nine Irish Brothers has grown into two thriving locations in Lafayette and West Lafayette, Indiana — and has earned recognition as the Best Irish Pub in Indiana by both Yelp and Buzzfeed, as well as the "Irish Pub Worth Traveling For" distinction on TripAdvisor.
But awards are just numbers on a wall. What really matters is what happens inside — the regulars who claim their favorite stool, the families who come for Sunday dinner, the Purdue fans who fill the place on game day, the folks who discover us for the first time and can't believe they've been missing this.
The O'Bryan family story is still being written. And if you walk through our doors, you become a part of it.
