The capital’s own St Patrick’s Day parade may be over for another year, but for those wanting to raise a toast to the snake banishing saint there are plenty of north London pubs serving a pint of the black stuff.
Whether it’s Guinness or Murphy’s here’s a brief guide to the north London hostelries where Irish eyes will be smiling on St Patrick’s Day.
The Sheephaven Bay, Mornington Street, Camden Town
The eponymous stretch of coastline is a gorgeous part of Donegal, but according to YouTube and Instagram star The Guinness Guru there’s authentic Irish craic to be had in this north London pub adorned with Gaelic sports paraphernalia.
Daragh Curran has travelled across Ireland and the UK rating the quality of their beer and says their ‘unbelievably creamy’ pints at The Sheephaven Bay are ‘the best UK pint he’s ever had’.
“This place just really has my heart, you go in and it just absolutely feels like you are back home in Ireland, like you are on the outskirts of Donegal or Kerry,” he said.
Ian Ryan also approves of the pub in his book ‘A Beautiful Pint’ – but don’t take their word for it – cut along to Camden and give it a go.
McCafferty’s Bar, Tottenham Lane, Crouch End
Rock icon Sir Rod Stewart and Charlie Heaton from Stranger Things have both dropped into this authentic Irish boozer in Topsfield Parade in recent weeks .
North London-born Sir Rod is not alone in loving this traditional Irish pub which regularly stages live music, screens GAA matches and serves ‘one of the smoothest pints of Guinness around.’
His visit was hailed by the pub – which is part of a small chain in Ireland, Spain and the UK as “Great company, great craic and a moment we won’t forget!” 🍀
The Auld Shillelagh, Stoke Newington Church Street
With the closure of Ryan’s Bar on the same street this Christmas this Stokey institution known as The Shill is a go-to Irish pub for this part of north London.
Time Out and, The Standard and The Nudge have named this narrow but lively Irish free house as among the best places for a pint of Guinness on St Patrick’s Day.
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Open since 1991, in a post on Instagram the manager explains why its Guinness is so good: “We care, we put a lot of hard work into it, it’s simple but it’s doing all the simple things correctly.
“Keep your lines clean, we’ve got a short line here from barrel to tap, we sell a lot of Guinness here and constantly having the beer flowing is going to help the quality of your pint so it’s not sitting around.”
The Faltering Fullback, Perth Road, Finsbury Park
You could say this corner of Islington is chock-full of pubs serving excellent Guinness – there’s also the Twelve Pins in Seven Sisters Road – but this Irish rugby-loving pub has been an institution since the early noughties.
Once again The Guinness Guru is a fan – he says the bar is cool, the beer is cold (and great value at £4.80) “the best looking pint I’ve gotten in London.”
There are legions of fans of this wooden-floored, friendly hidden gem which can get a little lively especially during Six Nations matches where you can watch the game in the ‘Sin Bin’ while ordering Thai food.
Nancy Spains, Curtain Road, Shoreditch
If it’s Murphy’s you’re after then head to this Irish pub which just opened a year ago in trendy Shoreditch.
Named after a Christy Moore song, the boozer also has an extensive whiskey selection, cocktails which take inspiration from Irish heritage, live music and warm hospitality.
