Former Rosie McCaffrey's site will soon hawk BMWs

Rosie McCaffrey isn't serving drinks anymore, but she might help sell you a car.

State of play: Chapman Automotive Group plans to turn the former site of Rosie McCaffrey's Irish Pub & Restaurant into a parking lot and vehicle display area for Chapman BMW, directly to the west.

• Chapman last year bought the lots where Rosie's stood for more than 20 years on Camelback Road near 10th Street.
• A billboard for the dealership already stands next to the former site of the distinctive Irish pub.

Flashback: Rosie McCaffrey's, named for owner Seamus McCaffrey's wife, opened in 2001 and quickly became a central Phoenix mainstay.

• The bar closed in September 2022.
• You can still grab a pint of Guinness or celebrate St. Patrick's Day at the Dubliner, which McCaffrey opened in north Phoenix about 40 years ago, or at his eponymous pub downtown.
• "Throughout the years I worked hard to help expand the local Irish community, bring Guinness on draught to Arizona, and ultimately bring a little piece of home to the desert," McCaffrey wrote in his Facebook post announcing Rosie's closure two years ago.

Jeremy's thought bubble: It was sad to see Rosie's close, and it's disappointing that something fun won't replace it, but sometimes that's just life.

• Hopefully someone can at least save the pub's old sign, which is still there along Camelback.