About two decades ago, Mary McGinty began exploring her Irish roots and discovered just how deeply her family history was tied to Ireland.
“I didn’t realize how Irish I was,” McGinty says. She later embarked on more than a dozen trips to Ireland to trace her heritage, visit the churches of her ancestors, lay flowers on their graves and learn more about her family history.
Inspired, the Manahawkin resident, who holds dual U.S. and Irish citizenship, began thinking about ways to bring a piece of Ireland to America. During the pandemic, she noticed people converting 12-foot trailers into mobile Irish pubs that traveled throughout the region.
McGinty, a school bus driver in Ocean County, had another idea.
“Well, God gave me a commercial driver’s license for a reason,” she thought. “I’m going to take a bus and convert it into an Irish pub.”
She floated the idea to her friend and fellow bus driver Frank Keresztes, who had previously converted a transit bus into a cozy camper for his family.
“I said, ‘Frank, I want to flip a bus into an Irish pub.’ And he started laughing,” McGinty says.
McGinty began scouring Facebook Marketplace for pieces that would help recreate the feel of an authentic Irish pub, starting with three small square stools she kept in her living room while she searched for a school bus.
“I already had it mapped out in my head,” she says. “I’ve been to Ireland 14 times. I know what a pub looks like.”
In June 2024, she purchased the bus from a seller in Egg Harbor Township and christened it The Emerald Pub.
With the bus finally hers, it was time to bring the vision to life.
“I called Frank and said, ‘Frank, I’m ready to do the bus,’” she says.
Keresztes, who had since moved to Alabama, flew back to New Jersey and spent August bringing McGinty’s vision to life.
After a successful preview at the Ocean County Irish Festival in September 2024, Emerald made her debut in February 2025 for a 50th anniversary party. Since then it has been rented for a host of occasions, ranging from celebrating milestone events like birthdays and anniversaries to job promotions.
Like a true Irish pub, The Emerald Pub is rooted in community and lives up to its motto, “Bringing a Touch of Ireland to You.”
Stepping inside the bus feels like stepping into a pub in Ireland. The 40-foot-long space, which measures 8 feet wide and 6 1/2 feet high, features a white tin ceiling, a pint rail along the sides, a Guinness bar, photos from McGinty’s trips to Ireland and books about the country displayed above the fireplace.
“The most unique features on the bus are the 150-year-old benches,” McGinty says. “The wee fireplace is especially charming at night. We plug the bus in, or if we’re tailgating, I have a generator. We turn on the fireplace, have a drink and watch ‘The Quiet Man’ on the TV. It’s like I’m sitting in my own pub. It’s spiritual.”
The bus, which is BYOB and has heat and air conditioning and a bathroom, fits 20 people; seating can be extended outside with bar-height tables and picnic tables.
McGinty has succeeded in creating an authentic pub experience, earning praise from some of the people who know Irish pubs best.
“The biggest compliment I can get is when someone from Ireland tells me how well I’ve done,” she says. “I went to my favorite pub in Ireland, Gus O’Connor’s, and showed the bar manager a video of Emerald. His mouth dropped. He couldn’t stop smiling. He said, ‘This is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. I wish you had it here.’”
In sharing her heritage with those who rent The Emerald Pub bus, McGinty says she is also honoring her grandmothers, Norah Loughran and Mary McGowan.
“Both of my grandmothers were from Ireland. I only met one; the other passed before I was born. This is my way of paying them back for taking the journey across the ocean,” she says. “Someday I’ll live there, but for now, this is my piece of Ireland here.”
Sláinte!
For more information or to book an Irish experience, visit emeraldpubbusnj.com. Follow @emeraldpubbusnj on Instagram and Facebook.
“The biggest compliment I can get is when someone from Ireland tells me how well I’ve done,” —Mary McGinty