A welcoming spot to shoot the breeze

Bailey speaks with a bit of a brogue although he was born and still lives in South Boston.

“I know, I’ve got the brogue and all,’’ he says. “I don’t know why. I’ve been to Ireland a hundred times, I guess that’s it.’’

After 25 years working for National Grid, Bailey bought the former Lobster Tale last year, renovated it, and opened in January. The roomy space has wide-board wooden floors, tables comfortably spaced throughout a large main room with a dedicated area for musicians, a comfy bar, and a light-filled, screened-in porch-like front room.

Irish culture is important to Bailey, who has his siblings’ childhood step dancing shoes in a case out front, along with other Irish memorabilia, including album covers from favorite Irish bands. At least 10 relatives work at the pub, including Bailey’s sister and two brothers, his mother, daughter, six of his cousins, and his sister-in-law - who bakes the pub’s brown bread.

The Bailey hosts live Irish music and dancing Thursday through Saturday nights, as well as Sunday afternoons - a family-friendly time. Currently, paintings on loan from Hingham’s Aisling Gallery hang on the pub’s walls to contemplate over a proper pint or a pot of Barry’s tea.

The menu is small and manageable and dominated by the Irish comfort foods that Bailey grew up with, along with local favorites, including burgers, steak tips, and an “Irish Riviera clam chowder.’’ The food is, indeed, pub food, but the quality of pub food that you’d find in an Irish village - which is to say, a bit eccentric, but homemade, always a good thing.

Corned beef sliders ($9) showcase coleslaw not as a side, but right on top of the meat, inside the bun. The pair of sandwiches are a tasty salty-sweet coupling.

French fries with a side of curry sauce ($5) are an acquired taste - acquired by the Irish over centuries of influence from India: They are fun to try.