Mary O's at 32 Avenue A in downtown New York City.Mary O's, Facebook

Mary O'Halloran, a native of Co Mayo who now runs the popular Mary O's pub in New York City, was amongst the many business owners who acutely felt the brunt of the pandemic.

O'Halloran, a mother of six, was featured in the latest installment of Humans of New York (HONY) where she recounts how, when her pub was closed in March 2020, she turned to making homemade Irish scones in an attempt to make ends meet.

“We got shut down two days before St. Patrick’s Day. Always the biggest day for an Irish bar," O'Halloran told Humans of New York.

With her longshoreman husband "trapped" in the Aleutian Islands for nine months at the time, O'Halloran was left to fend for herself and her six children who suddenly needed homeschooling.

"I pulled all the furniture out of the bar, and made a section for each of them: pillow, blankets, everything they needed.

"Then I had to figure out how to survive."

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O'Halloran says: “Other bar owners were just throwing up their hands, but I had to try something. I began catering dinners for emergency workers at a nearby hotel. It wasn’t much money, but it was something to do. Each night I’d cook dinner for thirty people. The kids would help when they could: peeling potatoes, washing dishes. But I’d be so exhausted every day. 

“Everyone had so much faith in me to survive. Maybe because I keep the tough side out—everyone assumed I was OK. Nobody knew I was full of worries. But it was so freakin’ hard. To keep the kids happy. Month after month I’m falling further behind on the rent. It felt like the walls were closing in. 

“But my regulars kept showing up. They ran errands for me. Sometimes they’d take the kids on walks to give me a break. 

“There was a group of Irish musicians who would play here every Thursday night. They helped me set up an online store, so that I could sell scones to the music people. Soda bread scones with homemade blackberry jam. My mother’s recipe from back in Ireland. Really, it’s the simplest thing-- but all six of us kids used to line up for them. 

“In January, a reporter named Roger Clark from NY1 came to do a story on the bar—about how I’ve been running it all alone, with my kids. And that angel, he had the anchors taste a scone live on TV. 

“It created big scone hype for a few months. It wasn’t a ton of money. I was only making $1800 for 100 boxes of scones. It wasn’t paying rent or anything. But it was something to do, you know? I finally found something that was working. People were writing notes, saying: ‘I gave these to my grandmother, and she loved them.’ 

“It was the little bit of light that I needed. It pulled me forward. I didn’t feel alone anymore. It was like: ‘Oh My God, there’s something out there.’”

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"Magical" Irish scones for sale via Humans of New York

Brandon Stanton, the mastermind behind Humans of New York, added this to his post about Mary and her Irish scones: “I know there’s a volcano of big scone hype that’s about to erupt, so here’s our plan. Mary normally charges $18 for an order of scones, but as she explained, there’s barely any money in it for her. 

“I do know that there’s a lot of bargain hunting scone fanatics out there. But I also know that many of you are ‘scone curious,’ and would love to support Mary.

“If you fall in the second category, I’ve put together a special offer for you. For $30, you can get an order of scones, and a limited-edition drawing from Mary’s daughter Erinn. (Depending on the amount of orders, the drawing might not be highly intricate. A lassie’s gotta do her homework.) Each box will also include an invisible Irish blessing that will be passed down through the generations to all of your descendants until the end of the time.

"You can find the link to the magical HONY scones online here. 

“So if you are also in a tough spot, but want to try the scones, do not worry. The $18 non-magical scones are still available through her website."

You can learn more about Mary O's on its website, Facebook, and Instagram pages.

Update 1:35 pm EST: In a stunning update, Humans of New York has today shared that Mary O's has sold over $1,000,000 worth of soda bread scones since her story was shared less than a day ago.

Stanton wrote: "The craic was ninety last night at Mary O’s as a wave of big scone hype crested right in the middle of Irish Music Night. Over $1,000,000 worth of soda bread scones were sold. But you’d never know from watching Mary.

"There was ne’er a tremble in her hand as she dished out shepherd pies and Guinness pints."