A WEE BIT O' IRELAND REAL PUB TO JOIN AIR FORCE ONE AT REAGAN LIBRARY.

Byline: Eric Leach Staff Writer

SIMI VALLEY - One room of the Air Force One Pavilion under construction at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library has the unmistakable odor of strong beer.

But library officials have a good excuse.

They've been using the room as a temporary storage unit for hundreds of pieces of an Irish pub that was dismantled in the hometown of Ronald Reagan's ancestors and brought to Simi Valley. It will be reassembled at the library, under the nose of the giant Boeing 707 that once ferried the late president around the globe.

When the Pavilion opens, probably in October, visitors will be able to sit at the bar where Reagan himself enjoyed a pint of Smithwicks ale more than 20 years ago on a visit to the ancestral village of Ballyporeen, County Tipperary.

``The pub was closing down at the very time we were trying to capture the essence of President Reagan's travels at home and abroad,'' said John Langellier, assistant director of the presidential library and museum. ``The pub will allow us to have a destination he actually visited at the Air Force One Pavilion.''

``His visit to O'Farrell's pub was Ronald Reagan at his very best,'' said Langellier. ``It represents his grass-roots form of diplomacy, dealing one on one with the citizens of Ireland. That's his Irish charm.''

While alcohol will be served at special, after-hours events, during the day the pub will serve as a snack bar where children are welcome.

The Reagan Library in Simi Valley already has visits from about 40,000 schoolchildren a year, plus thousands more who come with their families.

Even more children are expected when the pavilion opens this fall, so some of the furniture and fixtures are being lowered from their regular bar height to accommodate people of all ages.

The Air Force One Pavilion can accommodate about 1,200 people for large parties, including 600 on the lower floor, where the pub will be, and 600 on the second floor.

Partygoers will be able to gather below the jet, take their drinks and gaze out the half-acre window onto the hills of Simi Valley and beyond.

The pavilion is already booked almost every Friday, Saturday and Sunday night from the time it opens through the end of the year for corporate holiday parties, said Melissa Giller, chief of communications for the Reagan Library.

The pub will make the experience more welcoming and fun for all visitors, she said.

``Air Force One actually took President Reagan to Ireland when he visited Ballyporeen,'' Giller said. ``The great love they had for him in Ireland and at O'Farrell's pub tells of his human side. We will use it as a stop for visitors to the pavilion, (which) makes it that much more fun.''

Mary O'Farrell, the former owner of the pub along with her husband, John, described the sale last year and Reagan's visit in 1984 to The Associated Press and the Sunday Times.

``Needless to say, we were extremely pleased (to sell the contents). We had already closed the pub and it was beyond our wildest expectation. We did have to think about it. ... It will now be a functioning pub again,'' she told the Times.

The contents, including taps, furniture, glasses, photographs, signs, and a Reagan family crest, were reportedly sold for less than 100,000 Irish pounds.

``Mary O'Farrell lovingly oversaw the dismantling of the pub, almost as if it was a religious relic,'' Langellier said.

``He was here for four hours, drinking beer and chatting,'' Mary O'Farrell said of the president's visit with first lady Nancy Reagan.

``He was very easy to talk to and he went way past his schedule and his staff were shouting, It's time to go, Mr. President.''

After the visit the O'Farrells changed the name of part of the pub to ``The Ronald Reagan'' lounge, which Reagan said made him feel very proud.

``He wrote to us four times after coming here, the last time about 10 years ago, when he said he was suffering from Alzheimer's,'' said O'Farrell. ``I think it must have been very hard for Mrs. Reagan.''

He had visited Ireland before as governor of California, but didn't realize where his Irish ancestors came from.

When he became president, genealogists determined that his great-grandfather, Michael Regan, was baptized in the Ballyporeen area in 1828 and emigrated from Tipperary in the late 19th century.

The Associated Press said the former chairman of Tipperary South County Council, Con Donovan, was the first person to formally welcome Reagan when his helicopter landed in a local sports field.

``I remember him on the podium, throwing out his arm and saying, There is no place in the universe I would rather be than here in Ballyporeen,'' Donovan said.

Addressing the crowds who crammed into the town, Reagan tried a bit of Gaelic, thanking the people of Ireland for welcoming him to his ancestral home.

``I know at last whence I came,'' he declared. ``And this has given my soul a new contentment. And it is a joyous feeling. It is like coming home after a long journey. I can't think of a place on the planet I would rather claim as my roots more than Ballyporeen.

``My father, having been orphaned so young, he knew nothing of his roots also. And, God rest his soul, ... I think he's here, too, today, and very pleased and happy to know that this is whence he came.''

``From what I'm told, we were a poor family,'' Reagan said. ``But my ancestors took with them a treasure, an indomitable spirit that was cultivated in the rich soil of this county.''

Eric Leach, [phone]

eric.leach(at)dailynews.com

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2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- 2 -- color) A photograph of the late President Ronald Reagan, above, dated June 1984 at a pub in Ireland, will hang in the Reagan Library's Air Force One Pavilion. Below, O'Farrell's pub, with The Ronald Reagan lounge, will be reassembled inside the pavilion.

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer