His was a life of hospitality: Wantagh Inn owner Michael Dunphy, a native of Ireland, dies at age 84

The Wantagh Inn, on Railroad Avenue, is the kind of place where you can enjoy a meal, drink a pint of Guinness or catch a game on television with your friends. It’s an inviting place where you’re always greeted with a smile, and the man who embodied that hospitality was its longtime owner, Michael Dunphy.

Dunphy, an Irish native turned American businessowner, died on March 20, at age 84.

Born in Macroom, County Cork, Ireland on April 4, 1941, he was raised by his father, Matthew Dunphy, a member of the An Garda Síochána, Ireland’s first free-state police force. An athlete, Dunphy excelled in Irish sports, including hurling and Gaelic football.

He long understood the power of service and hospitality, beginning work as a barback, or bartender’s assistant, in a local pub when he was 12.

He hoped to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a police officer, but color blindness prevented him from doing so. He moved to London in 1963, where anti-Irish sentiment made it difficult to find work. In 1969 he emigrated to New York and found work in a vibrant sports bar and club in Manhattan called the Red Blazer. Soon afterward he met his wife of 52 years, Geraldine. The couple moved to Wantagh in the early 1970s, where they raised their children, Brian, Conor, Ronan and Una.

In 1981 Dunphy, determined to open his own bar on Long Island, purchased an old butcher shop across from the Wantagh train station, which would become the Wantagh Inn.

“Never flashy or pretentious,” read an online obituary for Dunphy posted to the O’Shea Funeral Home’s website, “like its owner, the inn was built on grit, tenacity, and a true sense of hospitality. Mike understood that serving others is the center of any community. He lived that belief every day.”

The spirit of Irish culture runs deep in Wantagh. The community’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade, created by the Wantagh Chamber of Commerce, draws an estimated 50,000 spectators, and is followed by a block party featuring live entertainment, food and drinks in downtown Wantagh, near the Long Island Rail Road station. In 2023 Dunphy was selected to lead the parade as its grand marshal, and reflected on the impact his chosen community had on him and his family.

“The Wantagh Inn has allowed me to serve the community, and raise my family,” he said in March 2023. “I’ve watched babies grow up, I’ve seen spouses meet and get married. I often think back to where I left. I could never have imagined going out of Ireland. What a place America, and the American dream, has been to me.”

In a Facebook post, the Wantagh chamber stated that Dunphy was “more than the owner of the Wantagh Inn.”

“He was a cornerstone and pillar of our community,” the message read. “A quiet giver, a generous soul, and someone who never sought recognition but gave endlessly to those around him. His kindness spoke volumes, not through words, but through actions that touched so many lives.”

The chamber echoed Dunphy’s own sentiments — that moving to the United States had given him everything he could have dreamed of accomplishing.

“He loved Wantagh and he loved America — he appreciated and supported our first responders, veterans, and our entire community,” the chamber stated. “Wantagh has lost a true legend, but his spirit will live on in every act of kindness, every shared story, and every moment of community he helped create.”

The Wantagh Preservation Society, which operates the Wantagh Museum at the site of the community’s Victorian-era train station, said that Dunphy was a supporter of the society’s efforts, and played an instrumental role in restoring its Jamaica Parlor Car, a train car from 1912, used on what would become the Long Island Rail Road.

Nassau County Legislator Kayla Knight, a Wantagh native, said that Dunphy “embodied the spirt of Wantagh through his generosity, quiet leadership, and unwavering support for our neighbors, first responders, and veterans.”

“He represented the pride, tradition, and sense of community that makes Wantagh so special,” Knight said. “His impact will be felt for generations through the lives he touched and the community he helped build.”

State Sen. Steve Rhoads, a longtime member of the Wantagh Fire Department, said that Dunphy and his wife “built something special” when they opened the Wantagh Inn, turning the establishment into a place where “friends gathered, stories were shared, and neighbors became family.”

The inn itself shared a message on its Facebook page, stating simply that Dunphy “was an amazing man, member of the community and leader whose presence will be sorely missed, and memory will be fondly cherished.”

Dunphy is survived by his wife, his children and 10 grandchildren. The Charles J. O’Shea Funeral Home, in Wantagh, hosted a wake on March 23, and he was remembered at a Mass on March 24 at St. Frances de Chantal R.C. Church, and interred at St. Charles Cemetery in Farmingdale. The Wantagh Inn was closed in observance of the funeral services.