History

Built in 1828, 30 Water Street was a five-story townhouse on a historic block known for one thing - every business that opened there had failed. And yet, it was perfect, or at least, it could be. A ground floor for a Taproom, a first floor for a Cocktail Parlor, a top floor for events and private gatherings.

Of course, we weren’t the first Irish immigrants to see potential in Lower Manhattan. In the mid-1800s, The Dead Rabbit gang fought fiercely to defend their poverty-stricken slum, or at the very least, to claim it as their own.

Ostensibly formed to protect the Irish underclass from the nativist Bowery Boys, The Dead Rabbits were also a criminal organization with deep ties to New York politics. Their leader, John Morrissey, lived several lives in one.

A bare-knuckle boxer by trade, he was a successful thug for hire who climbed the ranks from gang boss and gambler to casino owner and world champion prizefighter. By the time of his death in 1878, Morrissey was an acclaimed businessman, congressman, and senator. It’s said the entire New York Senate attended his funeral, just to be sure he was really dead.

With the determination and tenacity of our namesakes, we opened the doors to The Dead Rabbit in 2013. Since then, we’ve weathered a hurricane, survived a fire, and grown far beyond our early vision - but one thing’s never changed. In us, Morrissey’s fighting spirit lives on.