A Brief History of the 'Little Chapel'
by Joe Lindsley Jr.

Camaraderie in days of yore. Friends gathered outside the famed Guinan's establishment last summer enjoying the river, the weather, conversation, and refreshments.

G.K. Chesterton once said that America would be better off if, like England, there was a pub on every corner. For more than 50 years, a little house on the banks of the Hudson, just across from West Point, served as public house for not only the Garrison and Philipstown community, but also for many of those who passed through on train or boat. According to all accounts, Guinan's, which served as both a general store and a small pub, was a familycentered business. As an Irish bar, the place also had a wild aspect: On the first Thursday after the rising of the full moon, Guinan's was the site of Irish night, which featured music, singing, and drinking.

According to Wendy Bounds's Little Chapel on the River­—a tribute to Guinan's published in 2005—Jim Guinan was determined to keep the place going even though the operation was losing money. But the problems got worse: His son, John, who was helping run the business developed a brain tumor and passed away in 2008.

Patrons share pints and cheer in the old pub on the river.

The place was slated to close in early 2007. But Jim's daughter, Margaret, was prevailed upon to keep the store open. She agreed to another year, at the end of which, Jim retired to Florida, and they closed the store in early 2008.

At the Philipstown Planning Board meeting last week, former Guinan's patron Dan Donnelly offered some reflections in which might be called the "Guinan's Eulogy":

"I recall pulling up early on a winter morning as the train was entering the station blowing its whistle and the door s of Guinan' s opened and about 30 people streamed out, carrying their coffee and newspapers. They were talking to each other. This was a place where on their way to do their tasks over the next number of hours, they could be friendly with their neighbors ...

"Between 6:30 and 8:30 there are five trains that go back to the city and that process would be repeated five times. Perhaps 150 people would have an opportunity to get together at the conception of the day.

"Another constituency was at lunch-time, when the crowd was always small except in the summer, when the children coming out of the arts center would go down to Guinan's. There would be sandwiches for them, they were going over to the candy rack, getting their candies for the day.

"And then the latter part of the day when the guys from all professions and all businesses would come into Guinan's and they would mix. And Billy Fitz, he was a horn buster. But Billy would come in. There was four barstools and … he would attack the first three guys on the bar stools. 'Why are you wearing that damn blue shirt?' 'You damn Democrat s . ' … And then there was another fellow who used to come in there. His wife was dying. And he would come in just to feel the warmth of the place.

"There were the West Point cadets who would come over trying to catch a train. You wonder how many of them now on active duty, in quiet moment, in a dangerous situation in another country, think, 'boy, that was great.'"