St Patrick’s Day is upon us, and before you start going on about St George or that Welsh one, don’t. Saints and dragons and whatever they’re supposed to have done is all a load of made-up rubbish – just enjoy the day for what it is – a celebration of Irish culture and the chance to sing, drink and soak up the craic.
As you’d expect, the city will come alive with those big foam Guinness hats on the 17th March, and there’s plenty of venues that are doing something a little bit special. Here you go…
O’Shea’s Irish Festival
Held on the site of O’Shea’s famous Beer Garden, where many magical nights of Mancunian silliness were had last summer, this two-week festival is the place to bring your best craic, with smiles and laughs aplenty. There’s a new food menu from the Eat New York team, Guinness pints flying around everywhere, and a packed calendar of live music performances from local and international bands and artists.
The Guinness Fondue Burger at Honest Burger
To celebrate St Patrick’s Day, Guinness and Honest Burgers have teamed up to create the Guinness Fondue burger, comprising the classic Honest beef patty, topped with candied bacon, Guinness fondue, Guinness beef & bacon gravy, crispy onions, rocket and pickles. Served with Honest’s signature rosemary-salted chips, you’ll also be able to order a pint of Guinness for the first time in Honest Burgers restaurants. The burger is available now until 28th March.
Bottomless Guinness & Pizzas at Crazy Pedro’s
Bridge Street’s Crazy Pedro’s is offering bottomless Guinness for Paddy’s day. Yep, as part of their usual £25 bottomless pizza and booze offering, you can now get endless Guinness for 90 minutes – for one day only. The offer is available until 9pm on Thursday 17th March, and there’ll also be a range of whiskey-based cocktails on offer too, courtesy of Jameson.
Ríoghnach Connolly’s Irish AF Club at Escape to Freight Island
Flautist and vocalist Ríoghnach Connolly brings her Irish AF Club to Escape to Freight Island to celebrate St Patrick’s Day. Expect live Irish Trad, Folk, Blues and Jazz. Oh, and if you book a FREE ticket, you’ll get a FREE pint of Guinness too!
Manchester Irish Festival
Back again for 2022, the Manchester Irish Festival is already officially on. It started on the 6th March and runs until the 20th. There’s a ton of events throughout Greater Manchester which are part of the festival, including Irish dance lessons, live music, competitions and even Irish Karaoke at the Union in the Village. Don’t forget the Irish Centre Parade, which is on Sunday 13th March, leaving at 12pm from the Irish World Heritage in Cheetham Hill.
St Patrick’s Day Quiz & Jameson Menu at Alvarium
On Thursday 17th March at Alvarium in the heart of the Northern Quarter, there’s going to be a St. Patrick’s Day Pub Quiz, with a load of Jameson prizes to be won. From Thursday until the end of the weekend, there’ll be a special Jameson cocktail menu on offer too.
Bottomless Wings, Guinness & FREE Gaming at The Shack
The NQ bar and basement club are offering up a St Paddy’s Day to remember this year with Bottomless wings and Guinness, plus FREE gaming in Lost Weekend from 5pm. The bottomless offerings start from just £15 per person, and they’ll be doing £2.50 shots of Jamesons too.
Mulligans of Deansgate
Irish favourite Mulligan’s will be offering a St Patrick’s live music line-up in celebration of their patron saint, which are set to be announced at some point this week. Tickets are available on the day from 11am for £10 each, first come first served.
6 days of St Paddy’s at The Bowling Green
Set just off Chorlton Green, The Bowling Green are hosting a massive 6-day Irish extravaganza, starting on Sunday 13th March and incorporating a long list of events. There’s live music, competitions, Irish specials, a quiz, a ‘craictastic’ disco and more live music. There’s too much going on to list here so head on over to their social channels for more information on it all.
Irish Whiskey Cocktail Night at GRUB
GRUB on Redbank will be hosting a ‘Lost Irish Whiskey Classics’ night with the help of Sailor’s Home Irish Whiskey. Learn about the forgotten Irish whiskey cocktails of the pre-prohibition era before making (and drinking) them (obviously). Tickets are £20 and includes all of your drink-making equipment and ingredients.
Exploring ‘Little Ireland’ with Ed Glinert
Taking place on Saturday 19th March, this FREE tour of the city with local historian Ed will take you on a journey around Manchester’s ‘Little Ireland’. Now the area around Oxford Road Station, Ed will unearth the best stories of the area, recalling Auntie’s Bar, stopping off at George Orwell’s doss house, searching for a whiff of the Waxie’s Dargle and maybe even enjoying a glass of a black Irish drink with a creamy head.
