Some success stories happen overnight – others, like Mike The Pies, have been in the making since 1907.

Over a century before the intimate Listowel music venue began attracting some of the biggest names in Irish music and beyond, the pub that contains the famous stage was purchased by current owner Aiden O’Connor’s great-grandfather, Michael. The business – which got its eye-catching name courtesy of the popular meat pies often cooked up during Listowel Race Week – was passed down through the family over the subsequent decades, before Aiden’s father took the reins in 1984.

“My dad ran it for 30 years,” Aiden remarks. “So I was basically reared in the pub. I worked there as a young fella, on weekends, summer holidays and at Christmas. All my life was there.”

Aiden and his wife Siobhan took over the pub in 2014. The following year, they embarked on the most unlikely of missions – luring artists off Ireland’s well-trodden touring circuit, to present brilliant gigs from world class acts in an unforgettable, up-close-and-personal setting in North Kerry. Within just a few years, Mike The Pies was scoring multiple prestigious honours at the IMRO Live Music Venue of the Year Awards, including the top national prize.

Aiden O'Connor with his wife Siobhan and kids Hazel and Allie

To celebrate 10 years of live music in Mike The Pies, the venue is organising a major gig series, with some of the leading lights of Irish music – such as The Frank And Walters; Paul Noonan; Hothouse Flowers; Overhead, The Albatross; and Stephanie Rainey – already confirmed, and many more surprises yet to be announced.

The upcoming gig with The Frank And Walters will be a special full-circle moment, given that the Cork band were the first act to play Mike The Pies, back in March 2015.

“I thought it was just mind-blowing, that this was happening,” Aiden recalls. “We probably weren’t ready! There was no stage – there was a bit of a pallet in the corner. There were no lights for the gig. Over the years, the venue, and the PA system, has developed a lot, but that was a phenomenal night. I’ll be forever thankful to The Franks for doing it.”

The Frank and Walters at Mike The Pies

Although he notes that Siobhan and himself “took over a great business, with good regular trade, great clientele and a family-friendly atmosphere”, music had simply not been part of Mike The Pies in the past.

“I’ve been into music all my life, and I would’ve gone to gigs for years,” Aiden reflects. “My first gig was Cry Before Dawn in Tralee in 1989, and I’d have travelled all over to see Power Of Dreams and The Franks. And they’ve all played here now!

“I also saw Pixies and Nirvana in The Point in the early ‘90s, and I was at the famous Reading gig Nirvana did in ‘92. I spent five years in Manchester, so I was at Glastonbury, and Oasis at Maine Road. Even when I moved home in 2000, I was constantly up and down to Dublin, Limerick and Cork going to gigs. Thankfully, I don’t travel as much now – because they’re coming to me!”

Crash Test Dummies at Mike The Pies

The ardent gig-going paid off. It was a chance encounter with Paul Linehan of The Frank And Walters after Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine’s final gig in the Brixton Academy, in November 2014, that led to Aiden booking Mike The Pies’ first gig.

From there, he continued to put together more shows. He’ll never forget seeing Damien Dempsey walk into the bar in 2015, he says, or having a series of punk legends – Hugh Cornwell from The Stranglers, Henry Cluney and Jim Reilly from Stiff Little Fingers, and Richie Ramone – play Mike The Pies in 2016.

Richie Ramone at Mike The Pies. Photo: Liam Kelly

“In the space of a year-and-a-half, all of a sudden, all these big names were playing,” Aiden remarks.

Mike The Pies has gone on to host legendary gigs from the likes of The Undertones, Ash, Pillow Queens, The Mary Wallopers, Moncrieff, Crash Test Dummies, Riptide Movement, Ham Sandwich, SPRINTS, Fangclub, Kingfishr, Amble and Gurriers, to name just a few.

But one show that’s earned a particularly special place in Irish gig lore is Fontaines D.C. at Mike The Pies in December 2019 – which went on to be honoured with a Hot Press Hottest Gig Of The Year Award.

The band had made their Mike The Pies debut two years earlier, playing support for The Hot Sprockets in October 2017. Aiden, who was inspired to book the band after hearing them play The McLoone Sessions earlier that year, says it was clear that night that “there was something really special there” – even if they were only playing to about 35 people.

Two headline shows followed the next year, with support from then relatively little-known acts The Murder Capital and MELTS. By 2019, Fontaines D.C. had a string of massive singles under their belt, while the international buzz around them continued to grow rapidly. Aiden imagined “they’d gone too big” for his 100-capacity venue.

But a call from the band’s manager, Trevor Dietz, revealed otherwise. Following a busy run of tour dates, including two sold-out Vicar Street shows, Fontaines planned to cap off their year with a special show in Mike The Pies, on December 14, 2019.

Fontaines D.C. at Mike The Pies. Photo: Liam Kelly

“There was an atmosphere that night, an hour before that gig, that has never been experienced since,” Aiden reflects. “It was just anticipation. Everyone there knew how big they were going to be – and that they might never again return. My engineer Cookie brought in extra PA that night – he nearly doubled everything up. The noise was unbelievable. Obviously it was brilliant sound, but it was loud!

“Now they’re superstars, heading off to Australia in a couple of days,” he adds. “But they’ve kept their feet on the ground the whole time. I met them after the gigs in the 3Arena just before Christmas, and the first question from all of them was how Siobhan and the girls are getting on. Continued success to them – and hopefully they’ll come back at some stage!”

Grian Chatten and Aiden O'Connor

A vital part of Mike The Pies’ success has been this enthusiasm for platforming new, up-and-coming artists, before they’ve found stardom. As well as looking to Hot Press and ear-to-the-ground broadcasters for tips on new bands, Aiden organised a successful Battle of the Bands contest for several years – with the winning acts getting the opportunity to record a single in Camden Recording Studios, and release it via the Cork label FIFA Records.

Of course, the venue’s loyal fanbase have also played a crucial role in the Mike The Pies story.

“For the first few years, it was very local – people from Listowel, North Kerry, and West Limerick,” Aiden recalls. “But as it went on, people came from all over Kerry, and all over Munster. Eventually, people travelled from the whole country – and abroad even, for some gigs.

“I’m forever grateful for the loyalty I’ve been shown by people, to keep it going,” he continues. “Especially in the first few years, people were coming to bands they’d never heard of.”

Although it’s the music that has earned Mike The Pies its national reputation, Aiden also reminds us “the venue is only a part of the bar” – and “Mike The Pies wouldn’t be open without the loyal customers of the pub.”

“They were there long before the venue,” he notes. “So, when the gig is over, the pool table comes back out!”

But the magic of the venue isn’t confined to the ground floor. Upstairs, tucked far away from the bustle of the bar and the venue, the building is also home to a unique, beautifully-curated library space.

“My uncle Michael ran the pub up until ‘84, and he was big into art,” Aiden explains. “When he passed away in 2010, my dad went upstairs and discovered this library at the top of the house. Over the years it hasn’t been touched – it’s the same way it was when we found it. It’s a lovely room, and there’s great acoustics up there.”

The room provided the perfect setting for many of the videos in the Mike The Pies Unplugged series. Created alongside Aiden’s friend Michael Pixie O’Gorman, the series featured unplugged performances from the likes of Fontaines D.C., Declan O’Rourke, John Spillane, Susan O’Neill, Mundy and more – all available to watch on YouTube.

During the recording of one of these sessions, Cork singer-songwriter Jack O’Rourke was so inspired by the story of Michael, and his private sanctuary of books and records, that he decided to write about it. The result was the lauded 2021 single ‘Opera On The Top Floor’ – in which the library is described as “my own Valhalla in Listowel.”

Mike The Pies Unplugged was followed by a Backstage At Mike The Pies podcast series, presented with Hot Press. But since late 2023, the venue has been running a new podcast, On The Top Floor At Mike The Pies, hosted by Audrey Reidy and David Nelligan – featuring music and conversations recorded in the iconic upstairs space.In addition to his secret library, Aiden’s uncle had also spent years building up an enormous collection of posters from around the world. He donated over 2,800 of these posters to Limerick City Gallery of Art in the late ‘80s – which were compiled as The Michael O’Connor Poster Collection.

“He collected a lot of Eastern European film posters, and a few of those were kept in the house,” Aiden reveals. “I have them framed upstairs in another room next to the library.

“Only recently, someone local was in college in Limerick, and they did a thesis on his poster collection,” he adds. “They just dropped me in a copy of it. I’ve also been in touch with the crowd in Limerick – they want to come down and see where it all originated from.”

The Michael O’Connor Poster Collection

Clearly, behind its unassuming facade, Mike The Pies has long served as a haven for creativity, art and wonder. Looking ahead to the next 10 years, Aiden says he’ll always be exploring innovative new ways to develop the venue – but he’s equally aware that, in such an intimate room, “You’d lose something, if you expanded too much.

“We were lucky to get a couple of grants from Catherine Martin and the Department of Culture during Covid, and we were able to buy our own PA and lights,” he says. “I’m also constantly hiring equipment, or bringing stuff in from O’Sullivan Sounds in Killarney, who’ve been a great help. Niall Crowley from Heineken Ireland deserves massive praise as well. They’ve been a major sponsor over the years.

“We’re always looking at different ways to make it better.”

Damien Dempsey at Mike The Pies

Upcoming Mike The Pies 10th Anniversary gigs include The Frank And Walters (March 8) and Stephanie Rainey (April 3). See mikethepies.com for more.

Photography: Miguel Ruiz, Dinny Carroll, Liam Kelly, Mark O’Connor, John Kelliher

Aiden O'Connor and Niall Stokes. Copyright Miguel Ruiz.