Michael McCourt

1936 - 2015

Michael John McCourt

February 24, 1936 - September 5, 2015

Michael McCourt, legendary local bartender and storyteller, passed away in a San Francisco hospital on September 5, 2015 in the presence of his immediate family. Mike, who was 79, ultimately succumbed to multiple health complications.

Born to Angela and Malachy McCourt on February 24, 1936 in Barringtons Hospital, Limerick, Ireland, McCourt's poverty stricken family and childhood were chronicled to momentous acclaim in his brother Frank's 1996 memoir, Angela's Ashes.
Mike left school at 14 to contribute to the family. He toiled as "what was laughingly known as an apprentice chef at the Savoy Cinema. You were just nothing but a slave, a pot-washing slave. I was up to my ass in grease. I never got to cook so much as an egg." He caddied golf and, like his brother Frank, worked for the print supplier Eason's, before following his older siblings across the Atlantic to America at the age of 18.

"All of us knew someday we would make it here," McCourt said.

Following four years of service in the Air Force, through which he became a naturalized American citizen in Biloxi, Mississippi, McCourt returned to New York and set to work pouring cocktails for Broadway luminaries in his raconteur brother's prominent establishment, Malachy's. In 1960, Mike and four friends drove to Mexico on a whim and stayed six months. "There was this idea of starting a sheep ranch, which of course, never materialized 'cause everybody started getting into the local booze and the local chemicals. I left San Miguel de Allende with about, Jesus, eight dollars to my name," McCourt said.

Manhattan called again. Soon, he was behind the plank at Dick Edwards and the Minute Tavern, tangling with an eclectic gallery of eccentrics and befriending artists such as Montgomery Clift and the Clancy Brothers.
He wed, welcomed his first daughter Mary, and with a second daughter on the way, set out in 1969 for the West Coast and the City of Angels where Angela was born. During his tenure at Santa Monica celebrity hangout Chez Jay, Mike was courted by entrepreneur Perry Butler to move to San Francisco and collaborate in opening a saloon on Union Street. Perry's, a wildly successful venture, became synonymous with the San Francisco singles' scene. During his over twenty years there, McCourt crafted a name for himself as a San Francisco icon, and cultivated a devoted following of eminent regulars, such as Scott Beach, Charles McCabe, Glenn Dorenbush, Hank Greenwald, and Jim Dunbar.

"I became what's known as a celebrity bartender, whatever the hell that is."

The infinitely quotable McCourt was a favorite of iconic San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen, who often spiced his daily report with quips from the charmingly irascible publican.

Mike married his second wife Joan Gannon in 1978, and had a son, Mikey John, and four years later, a third daughter, Katie Ann. North Beach's Washington Square Bar and Grill became another long time home, before residencies at the Embarcadero's Seal's Cove, and finally the revitalized Original Joe's.
Of his childhood, McCourt said, "We knew eventually we were going to escape. And we did. We haven't done great, but we haven't done too bad either. I just had a nice dinner with my kids. That ain't doing too bad. There's a lot of people who don't have that tonight."
He is deeply missed by his family, friends, and the city of San Francisco.

Mike was preceded in death by his brothers Frank, Eugene, Oliver, and sister Margaret. He is survived by his brothers Malachy (Diana) and Alphie (Lynn), sister-in-law Ellen (Frank), his wife Joan, his daughters Mary (Rick), Angie (Max), Katie (Antonio), son Mikey John (Lorena), and granddaughter Sophia.

A mass will be held at 10:30am on October 16th, 2015 at Saints Peter and Paul Church, 666 Filbert Street in San Francisco. A memorial celebration will follow at 1pm at Original Joe's, 601 Union Street (at Stockton).

In lieu of flowers, the McCourt family suggests making a donation to Glide Memorial (www.glide.org), or generously tipping your favorite bartender.