Name: Petra Browne Works At: The Parlour, 250 W. 86th St. ...

Browne Works At: The Parlour, 250 W. 86th St. (B'way), 212-580-8923 Occupation: Bartender Originally From: County Galway, Ireland wne Works At: The Parlour, 250 W. 86th St. (B'way), 212-580-8923 Occupation: Bartender Originally From: County Galway, Ireland PETRA BROWNE IS an unusual name. The Petra half is my mom. It's Greek. She met my dad 35 years ago. The Browne is the Irish side.

How long have you been in the U.S.? I came here two and a half years ago.

You're a popular bartender at a popular bar. How did that come about? You just develop friendships with people. You can't help it. It's good. Like when my shift is ending, I really enjoy hanging out with these people. Sometimes it's not work. I see it as if it's my friends coming in.

Do people ask you about your Irish accent? A lot. They mistake me for English, for Irish? I think I've been mistaken for Indian. That's how bad my accent is! But I've been trying to make it clearer.

How bad is it when Americans try to do an Irish accent? It's appalling. Don't ever, ever, ever do it. Ever. It sounds ridiculous.

I think mine isn't too bad. Can I try it? Do it.

"Smile again and I'm gonna beat your fuckin' ass." [Laughing] That's actually not so bad! That's more Northern Ireland, but it's not so bad! I've got to shake your hand on that one.

What are some of the things we get wrong about Ireland? That we're happy drunks. But that suits me fine. I'm a bartender. It's all just in fun.

But what's the dumbest question people ask when they hear you're from Ireland? I get asked about donkeys.

Donkeys? Yeah, like, do we really ride around on donkeys?

There are people who think the Irish ride around- Yes! You wouldn't believe it!

What else? Leprechauns. That's another. What they think is that we call little people, that we call them "Leprechauns." We don't call them that. There's no such thing as Leprechauns. There has never been.

That's disappointing. There's no pot o' gold, there's no rainbow, and there are no Leprechauns. Seriously. There are no Leprechauns.

I believe you. Now what about Frank McCourt. He's a fantastic writer.

Some people think he put Ireland in a bad light. He did, but I like him. He went right for the jugular. He went right for the throat.

That doesn't bother you? As an Irish person, I didn't take it too personally. It made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me squirm? He's a great writer. It came from his heart. Any Irish writer that has lived his life and says, "I'm not going to sugarcoat anything," I think is great. A lot of people disagree with me, but I don't care.

There's a long relationship between New York and Ireland. Could you sense that when you arrived? I felt connected here. You don't know what it's like to come to a country, and to have absolutely no idea where you are. It's so big and so fast. But yet [I'd hear] "Where you are from? Oh, you're Irish." These people, their eyes soften.

Our American eyes soften. They have a warmth toward you that you will never understand, and it's just because you're Irish. And I never thought? I can't to this day explain it. But their eyes soften, they're just? They're so warm.

It's always nice to hear good things about Americans. They're just fantastic. I haven't met anyone, when they hear my accent, who hasn't warmed to me. Even working behind this bar. It's been a joy.