Pedestrians walk past the old Brian Boru building on Center Street in Portland in 2021. Brianna Soukup/Portland Press Herald Whenever Russell Foster drives by the old Brian Boru building on Center Street in Portland, he stops to take a picture. A fan of Irish pubs, Foster, who moved to Maine in 2023, has wondered what it once was like and why it’s unoccupied.
About a month ago, he decided to ask the hive mind. “Whats the story behind this Pub? Been empty for years, are there any plans to revive it? its a really cool building,” he posted on the Portland, Maine Facebook page with a photo of the distinctive red structure, its side painted with a mural of the toucan from Guinness ads, two pints of the stout atop its beak. Hundreds of people responded, reminiscing about meeting spouses and lifelong friends there, stopping by before a coencert or hockey game, enjoying cheap mimosas at brunch and, on some nights, imbibing more than they should have.
It was also a prime location to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day , on a circuit of Irish pubs in the Old Port with an all-day lineup of live music, free-flowing Guinness and shoulder-to-shoulder crowds. RiRa is the only one that’s still open.
Many of the Facebook commenters lamented Brian Boru’s closure and some, more broadly, how Portland has changed. One of them said he avoids Center Street because it makes him too sad to see it empty. That’s the building’s double-edged sword.
Unlike other beloved businesses that have turned.