Courtesy of the O'Neill family

Patricia "Biddy McGraw" O'Neill shares a pint with bartender Patrick Schutte. The beloved bar proprietor died in November 2011.

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The O'Neill Public House, for decades a favorite among Portland's Irish pub-goers since it began in the mid-1990s as Biddy McGraw's on Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard before moving to the North Tabor neighborhood, has had its last call.



The establishment was opened on Hawthorne and Southeast 35th Avenue in 1995 by beloved Portland publican Patricia "Biddy McGraw" O'Neill and her daughter, Shandeen Sampson. Biddy McGraw's soon became known for hosting music nearly seven nights a week, and in its heyday, according to Chris Hodge of Columbia Distributing, poured more pints of Guinness than any other pub in Oregon.



In 2000, O'Neill -- looking for a larger space and annoyed by the surrounding Richmond neighborhood's gentrification -- moved the bar to Northeast Glisan Street at 60th Avenue, the site of the former Moosehead Café and Lounge. In 2001, O'Neill and Sampson sold the bar to longtime bartender Ian Sieren.



The closure, first reported by Willamette Week, was announced on the company's website. It said only, "Sadly, the O'Neill Pub has had to close its doors as of January 2019. Check back here, or on our Facebook page, for an officials statement soon." No new statements had been made as of midday Tuesday.

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Dancing at the O'Neill in 2014.

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Over the weekend, a sign appeared on O'Neill's door reading, "Biddy McGraw's is dead. Long live Biddy McGraw's." The letter, which wasn't signed, blamed the closure on a tripling of the rent by building owner Philip Ragaway.



Ragaway, reached Tuesday morning by The Oregonian/OregonLive, says he no longer owns the building, hadn't raised the rent when he sold the building in September to SCL Holdings of California, and anger toward him is misdirected.



"All I really know is that when I sold and left that bar we had a decent lease in force and had several years left," Ragaway said. "But I don't know what happened with the new owners.



"Ya know, it was a great bar, and I provided the arcade games down to the last day they were open," Ragaway said. "I got a call a couple days before they closed saying, hey, you gotta come pull your games out, just after New Year's. That's how I heard about it."



Aric Lasky, an agent with Sherman Oaks-based SCL Holdings, on Tuesday says his company didn't raise the rent on O'Neill's. When asked about the note and its allegation of rent being tripled, he said, "None of that even happened."



He said SCL bought the building, and the pub tenant was in a lease through October 2019. The lease dictates what the rents are, he said, and SCL couldn't arbitrarily change the lease.



"We didn't raise anybody's rent; we didn't do anything," Lasky said.



Lasky said Sieren had missed payments for the last three months of 2018 because the business was struggling and that he couldn't afford to stay in the building. SCL offered to let him out of the lease 10 months early with no fees or lawsuits, and Sieren accepted, Lasky said.



A call to Shaun Sieren, son of Ian Sieren and listed as the current owner of O'Neill's, was not returned.





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Michael Russell/Staff

Patricia "Biddy McGraw" O'Neill

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Lasky said SCL has no plans to knock down the building and redevelop the land. The company, which owns and operates office, industrial, retail and residential properties nationwide, plans to "come and do improvements to the building and restore it to its glory as a nice amenity to the community."



SCL also bought the building next to the O'Neill, from 6014 to 6026 N.E. Glisan St., Lasky said. That building -- which includes the Sweet Cream Cafe, The Color Shop, Lyle's Barber Shop and UFO Pizza, with apartments above -- will also be improved and not redeveloped.



"We're not developers," Lasky said. "Our plan is a long-term hold."



O'Neill, or "Biddy," held court for years at Biddy McGraw's original Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard location. At 4-foot-11, the self-described "World's Smallest Giant" was a stern but caring confidante to pubgoers, and a supporter of local musicians, the Irish community and those "Biddiots" -- the affectionately used name for anyone who loved O'Neill and her bar.



After her death, Oregonian food critic Michael Russell wrote about her legacy.

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Vash, the manager who rules the kitchen with an iron fist, and iron rockers as well. Posted by the O'Neill Pub on Tuesday, December 14, 2010

In the kitchen at the O'Neill in 2010.

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Biddy McGraw's and the O'Neill pub were known for the many bands that played there. Here is a look at some of them from O'Neill's Facebook page:

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Sky in the Road

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A collection of shots of live music at Biddy's. Send us yours, and we'll add a link to your website or FB page! Posted by the O'Neill Pub on Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Josh Ross Trio

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Cascade Crescendo

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Green Tambourine

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Ash Creek

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Ashbury Park

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Argyle

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Cascadian Airship

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Castletown

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Gerle Haggard Band

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Gravel

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Gypsy Jazz Jam

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Jenny Sizzler

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Jug Band Extravaganza

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Life During Wartime

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The Muriel Stanton Band

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Mystic Canyon

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Pagan Jug Band

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Smut City Jellyroll Society

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St. James's Gate

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Stringed Migration

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The Swingtown Vipers

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The Hillwilliams

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Thin Rail

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Ten Spiders

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Bellow Bridge

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Blue Flags & Black Grass

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Ash Creek

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Cul an Ti

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Joytribe

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Sons of Malarkey

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The Stomptowners

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Michael Russel of The Oregonian/OregonLive contributed to this report.