About Us

The Heart & Crown’s story began in a cellar of a pub in Omagh, County Tyrone, Ireland, where a young Larry Bradley spent his spare time at work bottling and labelling Guinness. If he wasn’t working in a pub, he was hanging out in one – they were a place where families and people of all ages gathered for food, drink, & good craic.

This stuck with Larry through his move to Canada in the early 70s with only $100 in his pocket and a couple of other careers under his belt (farm hand, barber).Over the next few years he would work as a hydro linesman, and later he would start a construction company, but it wasn’t until he came to Ottawa that he realized just how much he wanted (and the ByWard Market sorely needed) the homey comforts of an Irish pub.

Together with his wife Michèle, they took over an old French restaurant on the corner of Clarence and Parent.

In 1992, the first Heart and Crown was born. Nearly 30 years on, and several more pubs across the city later, the company continues to grow with Larry’s three children now at the helm, as a semi-retired Larry watches on. If you wish to hear these stories and more, legend has it you can still find ol’ LB in the Snug with a warm disposition and a cold pint of ale.