Liverpool named one of O'Neills 6 best cities to celebrate St Patrick’s Day

As the countdown begins for St. Patrick’s Day, to honour the patron saint of Ireland, people around the world are gearing up for festivities.

While destinations like Dublin and Galway may come to mind, the UK offers a host of cities with rich Irish heritage and vibrant student populations. If you’re celebrating in Liverpool you will be in for an unforgettable St. Paddy’s Day experience!

O’Neill’s, renowned as the UK’s favourite Irish-themed pub, has curated a list of the top six cities in the UK to celebrate this iconic day, and it’s no surprise that our city has made the list!

You can see the list by O’Neill’s below:

London

With over 50,000 expected to attend the St Patrick’s Day Parade and Festival in London this year, it’s no surprise that London is top of O’Neill’s’ list for where to celebrate St Patrick’s Day.

In addition to tourists and locals flocking to the celebrations, London has the largest proportion of Irish residents in the UK — meaning there will also be plenty of Irish natives joining in on the celebrations in the capital.

Plus, with three O’Neill’s sites spread across London, there’s plenty of choice for where to spend the St Patrick’s Day weekender. This includes O’Neill’s Carnaby Street and O’Neill’s Kings Cross — where you can enjoy live music throughout the day and they’ll even have Irish dancers attending to kick off the celebrations.

Liverpool

Next up on the O’Neill’s Guide to St Pat’s is Liverpool. Liverpool was once regarded as the second capital of Ireland, with three-quarters of its population said to have Irish roots dating back to the Irish Famine.

As a result, Liverpool goes green every year and 2024 is no different — with pre and post St Patrick’s Day parades planned as well as the main event itself, the route of which is ending at O’Neill’s Hanover Street.

As well as its strong Irish community, Liverpool has a large population of students (approximately 50,000) who will be looking for a place to party on St Patrick’s Day weekend.

Plus, given that the University of Liverpool has both an Irish society as well as Gaelic football teams, we can tell that this year is going to be a big one…

St Patrick's Day. Credit: O'Neill's — St Patrick’s Day. Credit: O’Neill’s

Birmingham

One city that should definitely be on your list for St Patrick’s Day 2024 is Birmingham.

Birmingham was once crowned the most Irish city in the UK with a large proportion of its population identifying as Irish. The UK’s second city has big plans for St Patrick’s Day this year, with its St Patrick’s Day parade returning for the first time in four years.

The parade was known for attracting huge crowds of up to 80,000 people and was also recognised as ‘the third biggest St Patrick’s Parade’ in the world.

With the parade’s long-awaited return and the city’s strong Irish roots, this year’s celebrations are not to be missed and O’Neill’s Birmingham is the perfect place to start things off by watching the Cheltenham Gold Cup, the Six Nations final, and continuing the craic with live music and DJ sets.

Manchester

Surprisingly, Manchester was second on the list for the most-searched-for destinations amongst Brits for St Patrick’s Day.

Manchester is home to nearly 40,000 students and is recognised as one of the most budget-friendly cities in the UK.

The city is generally well known as a “good night out” thanks to its thriving pub and club scene and this year Manchester is hosting a parade among other events to mark St Patrick’s Day, paying homage to its history with the Irish diaspora.

So, if you’re looking for a relatively cheap choice for Paddy’s Day with the craic guaranteed, then Manchester is a great choice — particularly if you’re heading over to O’Neill’s Printworks in Northern Quarter where they’ve got a stellar line-up of live music and DJ sets, including the Emerald Stones and the Parlophonics.

Nottingham

Despite having a much smaller Irish community than other cities in the UK, Nottingham is home to 43,000 students and is known for putting on a good party.

This year the city plans to double-up on the celebrations by hosting the St Patrick’s Day Festival across Saturday 16^th and Sunday 17^th of March.

What’s more, both Nottingham Trent University and the University of Nottingham have Irish societies or Gaelic sports teams, who are regular visitors to O’Neill’s Market Square.

With the celebrations expected to be bigger than last year, there will no doubt be a strong student presence at this year’s festivities — particularly with a brilliant line-up of live music artists and DJs throughout the weekend.

Glasgow

Last but not least is Glasgow — the third largest city in the UK.

Thanks to its universities, Glasgow is home to approximately 185,000 students and is well known for its bustling party scene.

Glasgow also has a long history with its Irish neighbours, welcoming thousands of immigrants back in the 1800s which has helped shape much of the city’s past, including the famous Celtic football team.

As a result, Glasgow hosts thousands of visitors for St Patrick’s Day each year and we expect 2024 to be one of the biggest yet — and if you’re looking for an extra touch of the Irish, there are two O’Neill’s sites in Glasgow where you’re guaranteed a good time this St Pat’s.

This year, O’Neill’s is hosting a whole week of celebrations from 11^th-17^th March across the UK. Throughout St Patrick’s Week, guests can enjoy live music, sports and a whole host of exclusive offers on its food and drinks selection.