Kell's Irish Pub

An Irish pub opened in 1990 in Portland's historic Glisan Building from the late 19th century. The basement connects directly to the Shanghai Tunnels.

Kell's Irish Restaurant and Pub occupies the second floor of the 1889 Glisan Building at 112 SW 2nd Avenue in Portland's Old Town-Chinatown district, a neighborhood steeped in the city's roughest history. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, this stretch of Portland was a hub for saloons, boarding houses, and the infamous Shanghai Tunnels -- a network of underground passages connecting basements to the Willamette River waterfront, used for moving goods and, according to persistent legend, for kidnapping men into forced labor on ships bound for the Pacific. The Glisan Building served as a networking hub for businessmen and managers at the turn of the century. When Irish immigrants Gerard and Lucille McAleese opened Kell's in 1990, they inherited a building with more than a century of accumulated history beneath its floors.

At least three distinct spirits are said to haunt Kell's. The most frequently encountered is known as the Firefighter, identified by many accounts as David Campbell, a Portland fire chief who died in the line of duty in 1911. Campbell's ghost appears as a tall figure dressed in an old-fashioned fireman's uniform, most often spotted near the basement bar. According to Houston Oldland, a Portland ghost tour guide featured in Willamette Week, the floodlight under the letter P in the Kell's Irish Pub sign turns on and off when Chief Campbell is trying to communicate with the living. Campbell's spirit has also been spotted at multiple businesses near Ankeny Alley, but Kell's remains his most frequent haunt. Staff describe him as a protective rather than menacing presence, a quiet guardian still watching over the building.

The second ghost is a young girl with red hair who plays tricks on adults but is gentle and playful with children who visit the pub during daytime hours. Her identity has never been confirmed, though some accounts speculate she may have been a victim of the 1918 influenza pandemic that devastated Portland. Staff have seen her apparition in the dining areas, and she is known for moving small objects and creating mischief that suggests a child's sense of humor rather than any malevolent intent.

The third spirit is an older man who appears in the mirror wearing a derby hat. He seems drawn to live music performances and has been glimpsed by musicians performing on stage, watching from reflective surfaces as though still enjoying the entertainment.

The basement Cigar Room is considered the most paranormally active area of the building. It connects directly to one of the Shanghai Tunnel entrances, and visitors to this lower level report the most intense experiences: the sensation of unseen hands brushing against their backs and necks, sudden cold spots, and the feeling of being watched from dark corners. A grand piano in the basement has been reported playing by itself on multiple occasions. Upstairs, staff describe chairs rearranging themselves overnight, televisions switching on without explanation, the sound of heavy breathing in empty rooms, and a black mist that has been seen traveling through the pub. The owner has reported seeing a face appear in one of the pub's mirrors. Staff have occasionally resorted to using holy water as a protective measure against the more aggressive manifestations.

Today Kell's remains a popular stop on Portland's haunted pub crawls, including the BeerQuest Haunted Pub Tour and Portland Ghosts walking tours, which bring visitors through Old Town to experience the layered history of the Shanghai Tunnels district. The combination of the building's age, its tunnel connections, and its location in the heart of Portland's most historically turbulent neighborhood makes Kell's one of the most reliably reported haunted locations in the city.