Cold pints, live music, cocktails and Eat New York set for St Patrick's extravaganza
Not content with a mere single day to celebrate St Patrick this year, Manchester Irish bar O’Sheas has announced a full-blown two-week festival in March to kick off celebrations and presumably make up for lost time.
Commencing on St Patrick’s Day (Thursday 17 March), O’Shea’s beer garden will host a festival atmosphere every night for two whole weeks with plenty of ice-cold Guinness on tap and an endless supply of craic.
The beers are cold and the welcome is warm
If you didn't get down to O'Shea's beer garden when it launched last year, it's not as you might expect anywhere near the Princess Street Irish Bar itself. The massive outdoor space is over near Escape To Freight Island on the perfectly named Cakebread Street.
The newly refurbished indoor venue on Princess Street, a ten-minute walk from Oxford Road and Piccadilly stations, will also be draped in the green, white and gold of Ireland throughout the fortnight of “Mancunian togetherness” with a schedule of live music, special cocktails and an American Irish-inspired food menu.
Guinness, bagels and the craic
After two years of muted St Patrick’s celebrations, O’Shea’s is going big. As well as pouring pints upon pints of its renowned Guinness, cocktails will also be on the agenda, notably passionfruit and espresso martinis. We’re sure they’ll do you a Baileys or a Baby Guinness too if you ask politely.
Food will be coming, thick and fast courtesy of bagel purveyors Eat New York. The press release assures us the food on offer will have an "Irish-American twist". With no further details available right now we can only speculate on what that might entail. Apparently, the Reuben sarnie is popular among Irish Americans so ENY already has that one nailed. Will the bagels be made from soda bread? Could shellfish feature on the menu? Will there be an Irish stew dip alongside a bagel in the vein of a French Dip sarnie? Please god, let there be some kind of Guinness and cheese dip.
Music will be front and centre at this year’s festival. O’Shea’s has put together a programme mixing bands and local performers including Green Hot Clover, The Joe Keegan Band, Barry James and the Irish Ramblers, Nicky McCallan and more.
Paul Mackey, Co-Owner of O’Sheas, said:
“Once again this is for the people and for the city. We celebrate a return for the long-awaited St Patrick’s Day celebration and we promise to fit that 2-year wait into a fun-packed 2 weeks. The beers are cold and the welcome is warm. We have missed you all dearly and we can’t wait to see you at the festival!”
Founded in 1994, O’Shea’s sits in a former packing and shipping distribution warehouse between Manchester’s traditionally Irish areas of St Austins and Little Ireland. The venue plays host to live music and sports throughout the year and recently underwent extensive refurbishments during the pandemic.
Events for the festival will be ticketed so pre-booking is advised. Registration is available online for early access to tickets.
O'Shea's Beer Garden, Cakebread Street, Manchester M12 6FZ
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