{"id":486256,"date":"2026-06-06T14:37:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T14:37:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/486256\/"},"modified":"2026-06-06T14:37:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T14:37:09","slug":"eating-at-irelands-first-popeyes-the-man-at-the-top-of-the-queue-tells-me-hes-been-there-for-26-hours-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/486256\/","title":{"rendered":"Eating at Ireland\u2019s first Popeyes: The man at the top of the queue tells me he\u2019s been there for 26 hours \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cMadness, just madness,\u201d mutters the woman walking into the Blanchardstown<\/a> Centre on a wet and dreary Saturday morning with a crumpled up Dunnes Stores bag by her side.<\/p>\n

As she speaks, she eyes the queue of mostly young people lining up for chicken like they were Soviet-era Russians waiting for Ronald McDonald to rock up to Red Square. She frowns hard. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to disagree with her snap judgment. This is undoubtedly the madness of the crowd in full effect. <\/p>\n

Another woman walks past and shakes her head. She scoffs when The Irish Times asks if she is here to join the queue for Popeyes, the latest US<\/a> fast food outlet to arrive in the Republic.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo I look like the demographic?\u201d<\/p>\n

No.<\/p>\n

Of the 200 or so people lining up in and out of the rain almost two hours before the \u201cfamous Louisiana chicken\u201d shop opens the doors of its first restaurant here, 99 per cent are teenagers and most of them are boys.<\/p>\n

The very top of the line tells a different story mind you.<\/p>\n

\"KarlKarl Harmon arrived 26 hours before the opening of Popeyes in Blanchardsown and was awarded with a lifetime supply of free chicken burgers. Photo: Enda O’Dowd <\/p>\n

Karl Harmon is in his 20s and has been waiting for the chicken shop to open since 8am. <\/p>\n

That is 8am on Friday. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0First Look: Ireland\u2019s new floating sauna in Dublin\u2019s D\u00fan Laoghaire harbourOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

And \u2013 at the risk of repeating ourselves \u2013 it\u2019s worth bearing in mind that it is now Saturday.<\/p>\n

What possesses an otherwise sane looking man to stand in line for 26 hours for a chicken sandwich in a country that is \u2013 if nothing else \u2013 well served by chicken sandwiches?<\/p>\n

Karl says he just loves Popeyes. He first had it with his girlfriend in Liverpool a couple of years back and then for a second time with his dad in Belfast. <\/p>\n

When he heard that the State\u2019s first Popeyes was opening 10 minutes from his Mulhuddart home, he could scarcely believe his good fortune. And when he heard the place was promising chicken for life for the first three people in the queue*, he immediately made a chicken shop date. (*Terms and conditions apply. And in case you are wondering what those terms and conditions are, Karl will getting one chicken sandwich a month between now and June 2076.)<\/p>\n

\"PeoplePeople queued for over 24 hours for the opening of Popeyes in Blanchardstown. Picture: Enda O’Dowd <\/p>\n

Second in line \u2013 and also qualifying for chicken for life \u2013 is Brian Kaiser from the US state of Maryland. <\/p>\n

\u201cI grew up with Popeyes,\u201d he says. \u201cThis is my favourite fast food in the States. I\u2019ve been dying for it to come to Ireland for years. <\/p>\n

\u201cI had to try and get to be in the first three.\u201d <\/p>\n

He was delighted to see Karl was the only person in front of him. \u201cWe\u2019ve been hanging out since then.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having never had a Popeyes but having been drawn to the brand because it also spells Pope Yes, The Irish Times asks Kaiser what is so special about this chicken \u2013 other than the fact that Beyonc\u00e9 had it served at her wedding to Jay Z. \u201cIt is a taste of home and it\u2019s the best chicken sandwich I\u2019ve ever had,\u201d he says. \u201cOh and the biscuits, that all-American classic buttermilk biscuit, I love them,\u201d he virtually drools.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard not to wonder if a bit of hunger-related delirium hasn\u2019t set in. <\/p>\n

\"ConorConor Pope tastes a Popeyes chicken burger which some customers in Blanchardstown queued overnight for. Picture: Enda O’Dowd <\/p>\n

The third person in the queue has perhaps the oddest story of the lot. <\/p>\n

Not only has Ben Lawlor, from Lucan, never had Popeyes, he had no intention of even being in the queue at lunchtime on Friday. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0How the American fast-food franchise took Ireland by stormOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cI came up with my two mates to play pool in the Leisureplex and one of them seen this on Instagram so we said we\u2019d have a look. We said if there were more than three people in the queue we\u2019d go on and play pool but there was only two so with that one spot left, I said I\u2019d stay,\u201d he says, like it makes sense.<\/p>\n

He reckons it was worth the wait although admits he is speaking without having ever had a Popeyes chicken sandwich. <\/p>\n

We can but hope he likes it. <\/p>\n

It is hard not to pity poor Chibi Nwana. He arrived five minutes after Ben and is in fourth place so misses out on the free chicken for life. He says he decided to stay just in case one of the top three didn\u2019t have the legs or heart to wait. There is also the promise of free stuff. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was thinking, if he gives up, then I\u2019ll take his place,\u201d he says gesturing toward Ben. \u201cI will still get some merch and a free chicken sandwich,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019m very hungry.\u201d <\/p>\n

When asked how he might respond to a suggestion that he is \u201cbonkers\u201d he takes it on the chin. \u201cI knew I was bonkers before I came here.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Mayor of Fingal, Tom O\u2019Leary, is also here although not bonkers enough to be queuing for chicken draped in his mayoral chain. \u201cAny retail business that brings 80 new jobs will help out Ireland\u2019s future,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n

The head of Popeyes in Ireland and Britain, Tom Crowley, is wandering around looking like the cat who got the chicken fillet role. \u201cWe have been looking forward to this for a long time,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd what an amazing turnout.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked what in the name of all that is good and true makes otherwise sensible people stand in line for hours for something as ordinary chicken he suggest that while the food is special the queuing is not. \u201cEvery time we open the door, we get the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

He says some other things about chicken \u2013 flavours and crunch and the like but we have to move on because we see Brian Kaiser\u2019s wife, Janae, waiting nearby and we want to find out what she makes of her husband standing in a queue for 24 hours for the promise of a lifetime of chicken when she won\u2019t \u2013 although she is actually from the state where Popeyes was born in the early 1970s. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s pretty crazy,\u201d she says with fondness in her voice. \u201cAll my family\u2019s from Louisiana and it is very important down there so the pride of having this in the family is just fine,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n

And then, just before the doors open, a sandwich is sneaked out and pressed into the hands of The Irish Times \u2013 for research purposes only.<\/p>\n

We move far away from the queue, lest we are torn apart by the chicken-hungry pack, and bite into the sandwich that spawned this frenzy. <\/p>\n

And the verdict? It\u2019s grand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cMadness, just madness,\u201d mutters the woman walking into the Blanchardstown Centre on a wet and dreary Saturday morning…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":486257,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[613,83769,72,61,60,709,90,42415],"class_list":["post-486256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-blanchardstown","tag-blanchardstown-centre","tag-business","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-magazine","tag-us","tag-your-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=486256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486256\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/486257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=486256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=486256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=486256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}