Dublin cancelled its St Patrick’s Day parade this weekend but there will be plenty of craic at Islington pubs and clubs in the week ahead. Undeterred by the coronavirus, Irish boozers in the borough have stocked up on Guinness and organised a host of live music events to keep you in good spirits. Ahead of the St Patrick’s Day on 17 March, Islington Now spoke to four venues about their plans for the week ahead.
The Twelve Pins, Finsbury Park
Finsbury Park fixture The Twelve Pins is celebrating in style. They have live bands booked for Saturday night and will be open until the early hours. On Tuesday, the pub will welcome a live band and a disco from 5:30pm.
Manager Irene Fitzgerald has pulled out all the stops to bring in the punters. She told Islington Now: “We do complimentary Irish food all day: there’s Irish stew and bacon and cabbage for everyone.”
Asked about the panic in Dublin, Irene said she is “concerned [about coronavirus] but not worried: we’re doing everything here to make sure staff feel safe. That’s part of the job.”
She even offered us a few pints of Guinness on the house. We’ll see you there on Tuesday, Irene.
King’s Head Theatre Pub
Over in Angel, the King’s Head Theatre Pub is an intimate, old-fashioned pub planning a traditional evening of celebration this weekend. On Saturday , they are organising a night of live music from 10.30pm, with singer Luke Carrey playing some Irish folk for the crowds.
The pub has stocked up on hand sanitizer but its main order has been for the black stuff. Manager Alexandra Mannino told us: “We’ve made a big order. We usually go through three kegs a week but we’ll go through five to six at the weekend.”
Homeboy Bar, Essex Road
Dublin’s difficulty is Islington’s opportunity, as the old adage goes. Essex Road Irish joint Homeboy Bar has invited Dublin’s number 1 cocktail bar, 1661, to take over its bar on Monday night.
1661 won six awards at Ireland’s craft cocktail awards in 2019. It specialises in Poitín, a fiery 40-50 per cent Irish spirit. In return, Homeboy will go to Dublin on Sunday night and serve its specialist whiskey cocktails to Irish punters.
Homeboy opened in 2018 and manager Aaron Wall has organised a busy schedule for St Patrick’s Day. They’ll also have live music and DJs on Thursday, Friday and Saturday night.
And, ahead of his trip to Dublin, Wall is unconcerned by the parade cancellation. He tells us: “As long as you’re in a room full of people that you can have a connection with and have a good time with, then that’s St Patrick’s Day for us.”
Club de Fromage – St Paddy’s Day party, Islington Academy
Islington Academy is hoping to lure those looking for a cheesy night out. At its Club de Fromage St Patrick’s Day night on Saturday, partygoers will be treated to confetti cannons, sing-alongs, hula competitions and a balloon drop.
And, in tribute to St Patrick, it will be playing all of the Irish classics, with hits from Westlife, Boyzone, The Corrs, U2, The Pogues and, last but not least, Jedward.
