A beloved Cambridge bar was transformed into a tiny pub on wheels — and you can rent it
Regulars at the Druid in Inman Square know it’s hard to get a seat there on the weekends. But what if you could rent the whole place out?
Barry Shannon and Michael John Queally, longtime bartenders at the beloved Irish pub, have been fielding that question for years, and finally answered the call with The Wandering Druid, a tiny home-version of the bar that people can rent for parties, weddings, and other celebrations.
“We’ve had countless people ask to book out the Druid for private events throughout the years but it’s just not that kind of pub,” Shannon told the Globe on Tuesday via email. “We’ve also been approached numerous times to bartend for weddings and parties by regulars and locals, so the demand has always been there.”
The Wandering Druid is an 8-foot by 16-foot miniature replica of the Cambridge pub that Shannon and Queally built themselves. The co-founders, who are both originally from Doolin, Ireland, bought the trailer in August of last year. Shannon said they “couldn’t be happier” with how it came out.
“It’s hard to imagine with it being such a small space, but there’s around 115 photos on the walls inside the pub,” Shannon said of the interior design. “Some of them are old Guinness ads and the usual suspects you’d expect to find in an Irish pub, but the vast majority of them are old photos from home, posters of festivals from where we grew up, and even photos of family members. It adds an incredibly personal touch to the pub and that was a hugely important factor to us going into the designing process.”
The Wandering Druid has a dark green exterior and shiplap wooden walls that meet a maroon paint on the interior. The mobile pub comes with indoor seating for up to 14 guests (plus standing room), refrigeration, a Bluetooth compatible speaker system, and an electric fireplace. For extra seating and space, guests can purchase the “Beer Garden Package” for an additional cost.
The base rental fee for the mobile bar is $1,299 per day midweek and $1,699 on weekends and holidays. The Wandering Druid does not provide food or alcohol — that’s up to the hosts. But the bar comes with taps for up to two kegs, and staff can be on hand to help set up and work the event. A liquor license is not needed as long as hosts aren’t charging guests for alcohol, according to the business website.
Shannon said people have been most struck by how similar the mobile bar is to the Druid itself.
“That’s the biggest feedback we’ve got about the pub so far, that it actually feels like a true Irish pub,” Shannon said. “There are a lot of visual similarities in terms of the color scheme and layout, but the feel of a place is harder to put your finger on. The Wandering Druid has that same cozy, welcoming atmosphere that as soon as you sit down, you know you can relax and all will be well.”
Shannon and Queally aren’t the first duo to take on the tiny home-mobile bar business. In early 2022, two brothers from Reading launched Wee Irish Pub, and told Patch news they were planning to launch a sports bar version called Wicked Tiny Boston Sports Pub.
The Druid co-founders said they got the idea from friends.
“Friends of ours rented a similar mobile bar service for their wedding back home in Ireland in 2019 and that’s what really set it off for us,” Shannon said. “We wanted to be able to not only provide our own bartending service, but also a space that embodies the warmth and welcome of the Druid itself, and now we can.”
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