Sure, you could spend your St. Patrick’s Day drinking Guinness and Jameson and spend the next day feeling like a torn stocking. But this St. Patrick’s Day in Atlanta, there are a number of other ways to celebrate on the days leading up to, and on, the March 17 holiday with Irish music and dance, authentic stews and puddings, an Irish-accented cemetery stroll and even a charitable event in the mix.
Enjoy a beverage and Irish dancing
Atlanta Irish Dance performers participate in the Atlanta St. Patrick’s Day parade the Saturday before St. Patrick’s Day. But dancers will also get their jig on at several locations on St. Patrick’s Day, Atlanta Irish Dance co-founder Emma Burke said, including area retirement homes, Marlay House Irish Pub in Decatur and Glover Park Brewery in Marietta.
Tuesday, March 17, 3:30-5:30 p.m.: $10-$15. Glover Park Brewery, 65 Atlanta St. SE, Marietta. 770-693-2417, gloverparkbrewery.com. 5:30-6 p.m.: Marlay House Irish Pub, 426 W. Ponce de Leon Ave., Decatur. 404-270-9950, themarlayhouse.com.
Play golf in the Shamrock Scramble
Get in the holiday spirit with friends soaking in some fresh air and enjoying golf, lunch and the chance to dress up in your St. Patrick’s finery. Teams of four compete for best costume and first-place prizes in an event open to all ages.
Sunday, March 15, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. $95 plus tax per player (includes boxed lunch, two tickets for soft drinks or beer). Lanier Islands Resort, 7000 Lanier Islands Parkway, Buford. 678-318-7861, allevents.in/buford/shamrock-scramble.
Watch wrestling at an Irish pub
Nothing says the St. Paddy’s holiday like wrestling, at least according to the grapplers at Meehan’s Public House in Vinings, which will host live indie wrestling thanks to Atlanta-based Action Wrestling.
Monday, March 16, $15 tickets available at the door or at action-wrestling.square.site 7:30-11 p.m. Meehan’s Vinings, 2810 Paces Ferry Road SE, Vinings. 770-433-1920, vinings.meehanspublichouse.com.
Experience a day of Irish music
O’Reilly’s Public House in Sandy Springs is hosting musician Zach Stich, performing traditional Irish ballads and more beginning at 2 p.m. Last year, Stich played into the late hours of the evening, “until my voice could not sing anymore,” he said. Stich is followed by the Best Damn Session in the Land, a core group of 10 musicians for a celebration of the musical heritage of the Emerald Isle.
Tuesday, March 17, $10, 11:30 a.m.-11:30 p.m. 21 and up. O’Reilly’s Public House, 227 Sandy Springs Place NE, Suite 416, Sandy Springs. 404-843-8058, oreillyspublichouse.com.
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Visit notable Irish Atlantans at Oakland Cemetery
Since 1873, members of the Hibernian Benevolent Society have had a final resting place at Oakland Cemetery, watched over by a statue of St. Patrick erected in 2024. Independently tour this historic Grant Park cemetery’s Hibernian plot along with the graves of a number of Irish “residents,” including former Oakland gravedigger Thomas Nixon; Daniel Dougherty, who opened the first bakery in Atlanta; and Timothy Burke, who served multiple times as Hibernian Benevolent Society president. His 1891 Atlanta Constitution obituary said of Burke, “He possessed those admirable traits of character — frankness, fairness, wit and good humor, which so adorn his countrymen the world over.”
10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily. Free. Oakland Cemetery, 374 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive SE, Atlanta. 404-549-8932, oaklandcemetery.com.
Watch the Atlanta St. Patrick’s Parade
Celebrate Irish heritage and immigrants at the 141st Atlanta St. Patrick’s Parade featuring 3,000 participants including Irish dancers, the Hibernian Benevolent Society of Atlanta and the Ancient Order of Hibernians as well as the Big Idaho Potato Mobile.
Saturday, March 14, noon-1:30 p.m. Free. Arrive by 11 a.m. Starts at the intersection of Peachtree and 15th streets in Midtown Atlanta, near Colony Square. The procession moves south along Peachtree to 5th Street with postparade events at Colony Square’s Luck of the Square, Fadó Irish Pub — Midtown and Midtown Alliance’s Shamrock Stroll. atlantastpats.com.
Enjoy an Irish family meal
Murphy’s restaurant, owned by a father and son Matt and Gregg McCarthy, whose roots go back to County Cork, Ireland (McCarthy translates to “son of the loving one”), is ground zero for what sales director Joy Pugh describes as a family-friendly alternative to the raucous green beer St. Paddy’s experience. The beloved Virginia-Highland institution will serve authentic Irish favorites a la carte beginning at lunch and continuing into dinner, including classics such as lamb stew with mint green tea mashed potatoes. The traditional Irish folk band the Kinnigans will perform on the patio beginning at 6 p.m. “There is even an occasional jig,” Pugh said. Murphy’s also offers a special takeaway menu featuring corned beef with colcannon potatoes, finnan haddie soup with soda bread, corned beef with parsley sauce and Irish whiskey bread pudding.
Tuesday, March 17: dine-in lunch and dinner (make your reservation by Friday, March 13). Monday, March 16: pickup 11 a.m.-7 p.m. $95, Murphy’s, 997 Virginia Ave. NE, Atlanta. 404-872-0904, murphysatlanta.com.
St. Baldrick’s at Fadó Irish Pub — Buckhead
Give back this St. Patrick’s season in the generous spirit of the Irish at Fadó Irish Pub — Buckhead, which hosts the 25th annual St. Baldrick’s Foundation fundraiser. St. Baldrick’s is the largest charity funder of childhood cancer research grants and has raised more than $1.8 million nationally at this annual event. Participants agree to a public head shaving to raise money at this lively gathering.
Friday, March 13, 3-6:30 p.m. Free. Fadó Irish Pub — Buckhead, 273 Buckhead Ave., Atlanta. 404-841-0066, fadoirishpub.com.
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