Few environments soothe the soul like a proper Irish pub.
Brian Neligan plans to bring an Emerald Isle echo to Vilano Beach in the coming months with Durty Neli’s, a small but spirited saloon perched along the revitalized area’s main strip.
Neligan — who moved to Neptune Beach in 1996 from Long Island with his daughter, Mary– said he aims to transport patrons back several centuries with his traditionally minded new venture.
“We’re going for that look and feel from 200 years ago,” Neligan said.
The renovated space features distressed pine walls, open rafters and rusted metal panels.
The name, he told The Citizen, can be traced back to a boyhood trip to his ancestral home with his family.
Back in the 1970s, the Neligan clan journeyed to the Bunratty Castle, a grand 15th-century structure in County Clare, Ireland.
“There’s a famous pub that has been there a couple hundred years,” Neligan said. “My father was first-generation Irish, and he wanted to show me where we came from so we went there as a kid. It was called Durty Nelly’s, and we all got a big kick out of that because of our last name.”
Neligan, who lives in Vilano Beach, founded a successful roofing company and owns and operates several local AirBnBs. He takes pride in renovating properties that others have deemed tear-downs, striving to preserve the charm of the local area.
“What I like about Vilano and what I’m trying to accomplish with this project is to keep that small town beach feel and not bulldoze the old buildings to build these big complexes,” he said.
While his businesses thrived in Florida, the memory of that childhood trip to Ireland never faded. He often told skeptical family members that he would one day open an Irish pub and keep the embers of his heritage aglow.
“We grew up with the Irish pub culture in New York,” he said. “Sadly, a lot of that has died off. I want to keep it alive right here.”
Neligan had an immediate interest in the Vilano Road property that will soon become Durty Neli’s. It was dilapidated, but he prized its location.
“All of these buildings along Vilano Road, they’re almost like Army barracks,” he said. “This one was built in the 1940s. The guy I bought it from got it for peanuts in the 1980s when there was really nothing here.”
Durty Neli’s is across the street from Snapper’s, an upscale seafood restaurant in development from well-known local restaurateurs Nathan Stuart and Margo Klar, whose other ventures include Outback Crab Shack and The Boathouse.
Just down the road at the Hyatt Hotel is Michael’s, a celebrated seafood and steakhouse that relocated earlier this month from downtown St. Augustine.
Neligan’s purchase included the husk of an old box truck that he plans to transform into an onsite food truck, offering concession-style snacks.
The project, he said, will serve as a bridge to his own past — and his future. Mary, Neligan’s 24-year-old daughter, will work as a barmaid at Durty Neli’s.
“It’s also an investment for her,” he said. “Hopefully she will be the general manager someday. She’s young, but she’ll be tending bar there.”
Opening day, he said, is slated for early April.
“There are a lot of locals who have already expressed their interest in hanging out there because that type of a small pub with a pool table, there’s really nothing around like that,” he said. “I think it will do well.”
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