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Partners and fellow Irishmen William Comerford and Fred Remington own and operate the Irish Rose Saloon, Kelley O'Neil's in Waikiki and O'Toole's in downtown Honolulu.

The partners have run the company since 1998 when they bought it from Elaine and Jim Fessenden (hence the E & J in the name). The couple had been running the Irish Rose Saloon since opening it in 1985 and they were ready to retire.

At the time, Comerford and Remington were bartenders at the Irish Rose and both made offers to buy the company.

"He [Jim] said I'll give it to both of you," Comerford recalled. "Their intent was to keep the operation running for the benefit of all their employees and he gave us a favorable price and terms."

The partners not only kept the Irish Rose running, they went on to open Kelley O'Neil's in Waikiki and bought O'Toole's Irish Pub in downtown Honolulu. Today, they employ about 75 full- and part-time workers spread among the three establishments. They also placed No. 15 on PBN's list of Hawaii's fastest-growing companies, nearly doubling their revenue between 2001 and 2003. Both Comerford and Remington are of Irish heritage, which is where the Irish themes come from. Kelley O'Neil's is a derivative of their mothers' maiden names.
The Irish Rose is one of the few remaining places in Hawaii where patrons can listen and dance to live rock music. "The key to our success is live music," Comerford said.

All of the bars feature live bands. The Irish Rose is a classic rock club. The other two bars feature different mixes of music. Customers are an even blend of locals, tourists and military personnel. "We have a proper mix of what people are looking for," Comerford said. "We match the mainland tourist's desires, plus fill the needs for people locally and offer a sense of fun."

Comerford enjoys the bar business - and has been a bartender for many years.

"A big part of our success is staffing and we probably pay better than most people in town," he said. E&J offers medical benefits to qualified employees, gives quarterly bonuses and even has a retirement program for full timers. "So there are other reasons why we do well," Comerford said. "There are a lot of different ways to be successful in the bar business. This just happens to be the way that we do it."

Until last year, the Irish Rose Saloon accounted for the lion's share of the company's business. That honor now goes to Kelley O'Neil's.

The Irish Rose Saloon has been at the Outrigger Ohana Reef Towers since 1985, but will have to vacate when Outrigger Enterprises begins redevelopment of a 7.7-acre site, which includes the stretch of Lewers from Kalakaua Avenue to Kalia Road, along with the Ewa area bounded by Saratoga Road.

Retailers along the route have been on month-to-month leases since the project was announced.

"Negotiations are concluded," Comerford said. "We will begin physically relocating the bar on Jan. 16."

Comerford would have preferred to have remained through February and March, which are the Irish Rose Saloon's busiest months.