John A. Horbach’s Building: The Longtime Home of Dubliner Pub

Published February 26, 2026 | Updated August 28, 2026

February 26, 2026

The Horbach Building is an ornate Italianate style office building located at the western edge of the Old Market. It is the easternmost in a trio of four-story buildings that date back before the turn of the 20th century.

1946 Durham Museum photo when the Horbach Building served as the longtime home to Driscoll Leather.

John Horbach arrived in Omaha from Pittsburgh where he worked for the Ohio and Pennsylvania Railroad. He first worked as a clerk in the U.S. Land Office representing the Nebraska Territory and then opened a steamboat agency running up-and-down the Missouri River between Omaha and St. Louis. He also helped establish the Omaha and Northwestern Railroad Company as well as a lumber business before shifting to farming equipment.

1964 Durham Museum photo looking southeast from 13th and Harney. The Horbach Building is in the middle to the left of the white building.

Constructed in 1894, the building, sitting on Harney Street midway between 12th and 13th, reflects the success he found later outfitting wagon trains heading west on their long journeys. Among the city’s richest citizens, the future city councilman and real estate developer used some of that money to erect the four-story structure with a cast-iron storefront and hired architect Louis Mendelssohn to design it.

1979 Durham Museum photo of the Horbach Building prior to the opening of Horbach’s Pub which later become Dubliner. The stairs to its basement location had not yet been built.

Originally home to a tack supply business, the building has housed a wide variety of enterprises over the years. In addition to serving as the longtime home of the Driscoll Leather Company and Peerless Equipment Company, other occupants included a manufacturer of syrups, molasses, jellies, preserves, starch, and grocery sundries, as well as a millinery, wallpaper company, mannequin company, and several restaurants and bars. The building was designated an Omaha Landmark and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

2026 Omaha Exploration photo of the Horbach Building, the home to Dubliner Pub, Plant’d and The Garden.

While the upper floors were converted into condominiums in 2007, the Horbach Building is best known as the longtime home of Dubliner Pub. Paul McGill converted the basement, which had been used for coal intake and storage, in 1978. After adding stairs that led from its below-grade location to the sidewalk, he opened Horbach’s Pub in honor of its builder who passed away decades earlier in 1901. The old-time speakeasy atmosphere gave way to that of an Irish Pub after it was renamed Dubliner in 1982.

2026 Omaha Exploration photo of the Horbach Building, home of Dubliner Pub, Plant’d and The Garden.

The Horbach Building is located at 1205 Harney Street and is home to the following businesses:

Dubliner Pub is an Irish pub that offers a wide variety of craft beer while also hosting live music.

Plant’d Farma Boutique is located on the ground level. It is a dispensary offering natural wellness products focused on holistic health and well-being, along with hosting events such as yoga, open mics, and live music.

The Garden is next door and is the city’s first cocktail cannabis bar, which offers drinks, late-night food, and an outdoor patio.

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