The Irish Legend

A pub on Archer Avenue — the same road where Resurrection Mary supposedly hitches rides — with a Prohibition-era past involving gangster murders and mysterious deaths. Some of that history seems to have stayed behind.

The Irish Legend in Willow Springs sits in the heart of Resurrection Mary territory on Archer Avenue, reportedly built by the original owners of the Willowbrook Ballroom across the street—the very venue where Chicago's most famous ghost was last seen alive.

The building has operated under several names including Frankie's Roadhouse and The Stag's Head before becoming The Irish Legend. Its location on Archer Avenue places it along one of Chicago's most notoriously haunted roads, where Resurrection Mary has been spotted by countless motorists since the 1930s.

According to legend, Mary spent her last evening dancing at the Oh Henry Ballroom (later renamed Willowbrook Ballroom). After an argument with her boyfriend, she stormed out and began walking up Archer Avenue, where a hit-and-run driver struck and killed her. Her parents buried her in nearby Resurrection Cemetery wearing her white dancing dress. Since then, drivers have reported picking up a young blonde hitchhiker in a white party dress who vanishes as they approach the cemetery gates.

The village of Willow Springs has a colorful past. During Prohibition, the area was known for speakeasies, moonshine stills, and prostitution. On January 16, 1920, an illegal gambling casino operated in the lower level of the Willowbrook Ballroom until it was shut down in the 1950s.

The tragic destruction of the Willowbrook Ballroom by fire on October 28, 2016, ended an era—the venue had been a dance destination since 1921 and kept Anna Norkus's death certificate on the office wall, having identified her as the most likely identity for Resurrection Mary.

The Irish Legend continues to operate on this haunted stretch of road, where the boundary between the living and the dead seems especially thin. Visitors sitting at the bar may find themselves looking out at the same sidewalks where Mary's restless spirit has walked for nearly a century.