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One of Newark's best-known Main Street bars has been replaced

Ryan Cormier
The News Journal
The scene as Newark cover band Radio Halo performs during their first "Thirsty Thursday" at Catherine Rooney's in 2015. The band returns to bar, now named Finn McCool's, next week for the weekly party featuring $5 mini beer pitchers.

On Thursday nights, Catherine Rooney's on Main Street in Newark comes alive like at no other time each week.

Fueled by $5 32-ounce mini pitchers of beer and discounted mixed drinks, the bar's biggest college night takes over the traditional Irish pub for a shoulder-to-shoulder party fueled by both a DJ and cover band.

The lines are around the block. The windows fog up. And University of Delaware students rage.

That's all about to change at the newly re-named Finn McCools.

Catherine Rooney's owner Joe McCoy has sold the bar, located in the heart of town across from University of Delaware's Academy Building, to first-time restaurant owner Jeff Frotton. He is a New Jersey native who moved to Wilmington last year after 40 years in California.

Catherine Rooney's attracts a nighttime crowd on Main Street in Newark for its popular Thirsty Thursdays. The restaurant and bar has changed hands and is assuming a new identity.

While McCoy and his family turn their focus to their trio of Wilmington bars, including the original Catherine Rooney's, Frotton is ready to unveil Main Street's newest party place as students return for the first day of class Aug. 28. 

While the original musical fare often had been the softer sounds of acoustic Irish music and singer/songwriters, patrons can expect more exciting musical offerings such as Irish punk and blues/psychedelic rock. More traditional acoustic acts will also be in the mix, but not as nearly as much.

For the Finn McCool's launch party on Aug. 25, seven-piece Pennsylvania-based Irish punkers The Kilmaine Saints will perform a free show at 9 p.m. (This one will be loud and the bar will have a noise variance, Frotton says.)

In fact, the bar's new name is even a nod to its new attitude, name-checking a warrior/hunter in Irish mythology.

"Part of our ambiance is embracing him being a bad-ass. We're trying to bring a little bit of an edge and energy without going too far. We don't want it to be a sleepy, quiet Irish pub," says Frotton, 60, whose grandmother was born in Ireland. "I'm not trying to put a Hooter's in and blow up Main Street. I don't want that. We're not trying to break any rules."

The line to get into Newark's Catherine Rooney's for a student-filled "Thirsty Thursday" party. Returning students will find the bar has a new owner and a a new name, but the weekly bash will remain.

It's a good time to want to start a party in Newark. UD was named the No. 1 party school in the country by The Princeton Review earlier this month.

"I've seen their work. They deserve that," cracks Frotton, who lives near Greenville.

His upstairs bar takes a licking each Thursday, especially when school is in session. Young patrons have already disassembled chandeliers and stolen the thermostat twice.

Frotton has been the owner since February, but you wouldn't know it. The Catherine Rooney's name has remained and few changes were initially made as he watched how the operation runs. But once the summer came, it was time to begin enacting his plan.

The painters came in, a new chef took over the kitchen and the old management is gone. A new sign will be up any day now.

Catherine Rooney's attracts a nighttime crowd on Main Street in Newark for its popular Thirsty Thursdays. The restaurant and bar has changed hands and is assuming a new identity.

The upstairs bar will have multiple uses, including as Finn McCool's pop-up whiskey bar, which will be named Whiskey 102, referencing the bar's location at 102 E. Main St.

There will eventually be 102 different whiskeys, bourbons and other spirits to try, along with a Whiskey 102 Club for regular patrons. If you try all 102, you get a plaque on the wall above the bar. The whiskey bar will only be open from time to time and will not be advertised beyond online posts announcing when the doors will next open.

Starting next week, the bar's well-known-among-students Thirsty Thursday parties will expand to include the upstairs as the college-aged masses return to Newark. The same room can be rented as a banquet space for private events.

Over the summer, much of the framed Irish-themed art and other tchotchkes were removed and the room was re-painted, giving it a more sleek and clean look.

But Frotton is under no illusion that Thursday's hard-charging parties won't put new dents in his beautification project. With six months of ownership under his belt and having spent his very first night at the upstairs bar on a Thursday, he's already seen plenty.

Catherine Rooney's attracts a nighttime crowd on Main Street in Newark for its popular Thirsty Thursdays. The restaurant and bar has changed hands and is assuming a new identity.

"This room is really easy to touch-up. We know stuff is going to happen. Now there's just less stuff to pry off the wall," Frotton says. "But Thursday pays the bills."

Newark-based cover band Radio Halo plays the upstairs bar for the 21-and-older-only Thirsty Thursday every week when school is in session, giving frontman Dave Hepner a front-row view of one of the campus' biggest weekly parties.

They have been the Thursday night band for several years and know exactly what to expect.

"It's a nut house -- a real close, in-your-face kind of gig. No room to move," says Hepner, whose band features many '90s hits in their sets. "Nothing else compares to it. It gets drunk in there a little bit."

Before coming to Delaware and fulfilling his life-long dream of owning a bar, Frotton owned several companies over the years, including pool service, printing and copy businesses.

He came to Delaware last summer when his wife, Mette, a corporate bankruptcy attorney with Fox Rothschild, decided to move to her firm's Wilmington branch.

Catherine Rooney's attracts a nighttime crowd on Main Street in Newark for its popular Thirsty Thursdays. The restaurant and bar has changed hands and is assuming a new identity.

In fact, Frotton had never stepped foot in Newark before driving to Catherine Rooney's to check it out after his real estate agent told him he thought the former Bank of Newark building would be a good fit.

For his part, former owner McCoy says he decided to sell after nearly nine years to downsize and bring his son, also named Joe, up to manage their Wilmington bars: Catherine Rooney's, Trolley Tap House and Hummingbird to Mars.

While McCoy doesn't have immediate plans to step back from his businesses, he says, "At 67, you start to think about those things."

Frotton's attention hasn't been solely focused on entertainment and alcohol sales. He's been upgrading the restaurant side of things as well.

A new training program has been installed for employees with an eye toward improving service.

Servers will be toting iPads to take orders.

Patrons gather at Catherine Rooney's for a Downtown Newark Food and Brew Fest. The restaurant and bar will be officially re-named Finn McCool's by new owners later this month.

And the pub-centric menu will have a fresh look, keeping some old Catherine Rooney's mainstays, while adding new dishes from incoming chef Vernon Cain, formerly of That's Amore in Cape May, New Jersey.

The hand-battered fish and chips, Shepherd's pie, Jameson hamburger and a few others will remain with Cain adding specialty macaroni and cheese dishes topped with items such as short rib or crab, in-house made hamburgers, avocado toast and more.

With the menu under control and a chef he trusts, Frotton is continuing to brainstorm about what he can do to make his spot stand out in a downtown filled with competitors such as The Deer Park, Klondike Kate's, Grotto and more.

He's already working on bringing a silent disco to his patio, which will allow partiers to wear headphones, select from several channels of music and dance without having the music disturbing neighbors.

As he puts it, "We're going to be constantly throwing things at the wall to see what sticks. We'd rather be different than boring."

Contact Ryan Cormier of The News Journal at rcormier@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2863. Follow him on Facebook (@ryancormier), Twitter (@ryancormier) and Instagram (@ryancormier).

IF YOU GO

What: Finn McCool's launch party

Where: 102 E. Main St., Newark

When: Saturday, August 25

Details: A ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for 10 a.m. with Irish punk act The Kilmaine Saints performing a free show at 9 p.m.

Information: mccoolsirishpub.com