Boz O’Brien built a South Side institution on personality, politics and a bit of mischief.
Known to most simply as “Boz,” the longtime owner and founder of Reilly’s Daughter in Oak Lawn died Jan. 28 at 75. Born James O’Brien to Lawrence and Margaret O’Brien, he spent nearly three decades shaping one of the area’s most recognizable Irish pubs before later opening a second location at Chicago Midway International Airport.
O’Brien was just 24 when he opened Reilly’s Daughter on June 16, 1976, in a strip mall at 111th Street and Pulaski Road. At a time when Irish-themed pubs were not yet common in the area, the bar quickly became a gathering place that blended neighborhood sports, Democratic politics and Irish culture.
The pub’s name, drawn from an Irish folk song, set the tone. Inside, the atmosphere was lively and unpretentious, a place where softball teams crowded in after games and local politicians worked the room during campaign season. Over time, the bar’s appeal extended well beyond the Irish community, fueled in large part by O’Brien’s outgoing style and talent for turning an ordinary night into an event.
Reilly’s Daughter developed a reputation for creative promotions and offbeat contests, including rowdy Irish soda bread competitions. Musicians and singers found a steady home there, helping to cement the bar as a hub for live Irish music on the South Side. Many neighborhood young people earned their first paychecks at the pub and used those wages to help pay their way through college and into their careers.
O’Brien’s knack for spectacle occasionally pushed the bar into the national spotlight.
After an incident during a World Series visit in Chicago in which a brick was thrown at ABC sportscaster Howard Cosell’s limousine, Reilly’s Daughter found itself mentioned in the fallout. Rather than shy away from the attention, O’Brien turned the moment into one of his trademark promotions. He acquired several discarded black-and-white television sets and staged a season-long Monday Night Football gimmick that invited a selected participant to smash a TV during Cosell’s broadcast. The crashing screens became part of the pub’s growing legend and only added to its reputation as a place where anything could happen.
After 27 years, O’Brien sold Reilly’s Daughter in 2002, citing burnout after decades at the helm. He later opened a smaller, more subdued version of the pub at Midway Airport, bringing a touch of South Side Irish hospitality to travelers passing through Chicago.
The original Oak Lawn location continued operating under different names, including Hoops and Helmets and Quigley’s South Side Irish Pub, while maintaining its Irish character. In 2015, his sons, Brendan and Dan O’Brien, assumed ownership and reopened Reilly’s Daughter at its original address, carrying forward the family’s connection to the bar.
Beyond the barroom, O’Brien was a devoted father to Brendan and Dan and a proud grandfather known as “Grandpa Boz” to his grandson, Michael. He was the beloved brother of Sheila McNulty, Paula Litman, Joanie Obiala, Kevin O’Brien, Larry O’Brien and Caron Hayes, and a cherished uncle, cousin and friend to many.
Visitation was held Monday from 2 to 9 p.m. Funeral services took place Tuesday morning from Curley Funeral Home in Chicago Ridge to St. Cajetan Church in Chicago.
Reilly’s Daughter was the kind of place where people marked milestones, argued politics, celebrated wins and forgot their losses, and Boz O’Brien stood at the center of it all by greeting regulars by name and newcomers like old friends. His story is woven into the walls of that place, and his absence leaves a quiet space that will not be easily filled.