The Best Irish Pubs in New York City (2026)

NYC has one of the most established Irish-pub scenes outside Ireland itself — a legacy of 19th-century immigration that made New York one of the world's great Irish diaspora cities. The pubs that came with that wave are still doing the job today.

The best Irish pubs in NYC for 2026: McSorley's Old Ale House (widely regarded as the city's oldest, open since 1854), The Dead Rabbit (a Financial District cocktail parlour by Belfast natives, named World's Best Bar by World's 50 Best Bars), The Landmark Tavern (Hell's Kitchen, open since 1868), and Connolly's (Midtown's most reliable Irish pub near Times Square). Beyond that top tier the city has dozens more worth knowing — this guide picks the ten worth crossing town for.

Best Irish pubs in NYC at a glance

Looking for	Go to	Neighbourhood
Oldest Irish pub	McSorley's Old Ale House	East Village
Best cocktails	The Dead Rabbit	Financial District
Most preserved 19th-c interior	The Landmark Tavern	Hell's Kitchen
Reliable Midtown / Times Square stop	Connolly's	Midtown West
Quiet traditional pub	Molly's Shebeen	Gramercy
Pre-game (Knicks / Rangers / MSG)	Tír na Nóg	Penn Station
Times Square late-night Irish bar	The Mean Fiddler	Times Square
Large group / multiple floors	Playwright Celtic Pub	Midtown West
Whiskey list + Sunday trad session	Swift Hibernian Lounge	East Village
9/11 history	O'Hara's	Financial District

How we picked these pubs

Every pub here is verified for Irish identity — Irish ownership or operating history, traditional pub character, named-pub signals like "O'Hara's" or "McSorley's", and at least one confirmed feature in the listing on Craic Map. The order leans on Google review count and rating as a quality signal, then character (history, distinctive feature, or critical reputation). Tourist-only bars with no Irish operating history were skipped. If a bar is on this list, its listing on Craic Map has the full feature breakdown, hours, and contact details.

1. McSorley's Old Ale House (East Village)

McSorley's opened in 1854 and is widely regarded as the oldest continuously-operated saloon in New York City. Two beers on offer — light or dark — served two at a time in glass mugs. Cash only. Sawdust on the floor, and walls covered in century-old memorabilia the bar has refused to remove since 1910: pictures of dead regulars, a pair of handcuffs left by Houdini, and a collection of turkey wishbones left over the bar by US soldiers heading off to WWI. According to bar tradition, the ones still hanging are from soldiers who never came back to collect them. Women weren't admitted until 1970, after a federal court ruling overturned the long-standing "men only" policy. Joseph Mitchell wrote it into the canon of New York's saloon culture in his 1940 New Yorker piece "The Old House at Home." It still draws a substantial local crowd on weeknights — though you'll wait for a table on Friday and Saturday.

Good to know: Cash only. Two beer choices (light or dark McSorley's Ale). Expect queues from 7pm Friday and Saturday. 15 E 7th Street.

2. The Dead Rabbit (Financial District)

If McSorley's is the historical anchor, The Dead Rabbit is the modern flagship. Opened in 2013 by Belfast natives Sean Muldoon and Jack McGarry, The Dead Rabbit was named World's Best Bar by World's 50 Best Bars in 2015. It has remained one of the world's highest-rated cocktail bars ever since. The name references the semi-legendary Five Points-era Irish gang popularised by Herbert Asbury's Gangs of New York and later by Martin Scorsese's film of the same name. Three floors: the ground-level Taproom (loud, packed, where the crowd tends to gather), the Parlor upstairs (cocktails, table service, dressier crowd), and the Occasional Room (private events). The Irish coffee is the signature order — the team perfected the technique on a research trip to Foynes Airport in Ireland, where the drink was invented in 1942. Worth a visit even if cocktails aren't your thing: the décor is mid-19th-century Lower Manhattan, the music is trad/folk-leaning, and the Guinness is widely praised for the quality of its pour.

Good to know: FiDi cocktail-bar pricing (roughly $18–22 per drink). Irish coffee is the order. Taproom is first-come-first-served; Parlor takes reservations. 30 Water Street.

3. The Landmark Tavern (Hell's Kitchen)

Open since 1868, when Hell's Kitchen was a longshoremen-and-Irish-immigrant neighbourhood on the working Hudson waterfront. The Landmark was originally a three-storey saloon with rooms upstairs — now a preserved 19th-century pub with the original mahogany bar, pressed-tin ceiling, and period light fittings. The food menu is more substantial than most NYC Irish pubs (shepherd's pie, fish and chips, soda bread). The Landmark also claims one of the city's resident ghosts — a young Irish girl who, according to local lore, died on the top floor in the 1880s. Local colour or not, the pub itself is worth the trip out west to 11th Avenue.

Good to know: Kitchen stays open later than most NYC pubs. Good for groups; the upstairs room takes reservations. 626 11th Ave.

4. Connolly's (Midtown)

Three-floor Midtown Irish pub on West 45th Street, two blocks from Times Square. Connolly's is the most reliable Midtown stop on an Irish pub crawl — live music several nights a week, a full Irish-American food menu, and enough space across three floors that you can usually find a seat. The crowd is a mix of theatre-district pre-shows, midtown office workers post-work, and Irish-Americans coming in from the boroughs. It's not the most authentic — corporate-owned, polished decor — but it's consistent, and consistency matters in Midtown where most Irish-themed bars cater purely to tourists.

Good to know: Live music nights vary; check the door listing or call ahead. The top floor is best for sit-down food. 121 W 45th Street.

5. O'Hara's Restaurant and Pub (Financial District)

Opened in 1972 just blocks from the World Trade Center site. After the September 11 attacks, O'Hara's became a recovery shelter and impromptu memorial — its walls today are covered in patches and ID badges from emergency responders who drank there in the months following the attacks. The pub menu is straightforward American-Irish (burgers, wings, fish and chips), and the Guinness is a properly poured pint. It isn't flashy. It's a working New York Irish pub with one of the most emotionally weighted backstories in the city's bar trade.

Good to know: Walking distance from the 9/11 Memorial. Cash and card. 120 Cedar Street.

6. Molly's Shebeen Bar + Restaurant (Gramercy)

A "shebeen" is the Irish term for an unlicensed drinking spot — historically the back room of someone's house. Molly's took the name when it opened on Third Avenue and has kept the spirit: sawdust on the floor, a working wood-burning fireplace, and a feel closer to a Cork village pub than a New York gastropub. The burger has long been rated one of the city's better pub burgers. Family-run and intentionally low-key.

Good to know: Quieter on weeknights, busier on weekends. Fireplace lit in colder months. 287 3rd Ave.

7. Swift Hibernian Lounge (East Village)

Named after Jonathan Swift, the Irish satirist behind Gulliver's Travels and A Modest Proposal. Swift opened in 1995 and was one of the East Village pubs that bridged McSorley's-era saloons with the modern craft-beer era — a serious whiskey selection, properly poured Guinness, and a long-running Irish trad session on Sunday nights. The interior is dark wood and red leather, more comfortable than rustic, with private snug-style booths at the back.

Good to know: Sunday trad session typically from late afternoon — check before going. Sizeable Irish whiskey list. 34 E 4th Street.

8. Tír na Nóg (Penn Station / Madison Square Garden)

The name means "land of eternal youth" in Irish — though in practice this two-floor pub on West 31st Street is best known for two things: it's the closest serious Irish pub to Penn Station and Madison Square Garden, and it's a Rangers and Knicks game-night standard. Outdoor seating, sports screens, a solid Irish-American menu, and late opening most nights of the week. Less iconic than McSorley's, but the pre-game and post-game traffic patterns mean you can find a pint here at hours when most other Irish pubs are closing.

Good to know: Busiest in the hour before and after MSG events. Outdoor patio open in season. 254 W 31st Street.

9. The Mean Fiddler (Times Square)

The Mean Fiddler is a Times Square Irish-bar institution. Yes, it's touristy — it's on West 47th Street, two blocks off the heart of Times Square. But it's also one of the only Irish pubs in the area open late seven nights a week, has a proper-sized crowd for major Six Nations and Premier League fixtures, and serves a classic Irish-American menu (corned beef sandwich, fish and chips, Guinness stew). The crowd skews younger and more international than Connolly's.

Good to know: Most reliable Times Square Irish bar for live sports broadcasts. Arrive 30+ minutes before kickoff for big rugby/football fixtures. 266 W 47th Street.

10. Ryan Maguire's Bar & Restaurant (Financial District)

Beloved Financial District institution since 1995, a few blocks from the WTC site. Ryan Maguire's is one of those NYC Irish pubs that operates as the neighbourhood's living room — long lunch crowd, post-work fixture for the area's office buildings, and a quiet pre-9pm pace that turns into proper bar volume by 10. The food menu is hearty American-Irish, and the Irish coffee is one of the better non-Dead-Rabbit versions in the area.

Good to know: Best for happy hour and post-work pints rather than late nights. 28 Cliff Street.

Bonus mentions

A few that didn't make the top ten but are worth a visit:

• Cassidy's Pub (Midtown) — easygoing watering hole, outdoor seating, sports screens, low-key crowd. Good if you need a Midtown bar without the tourist density of Times Square.
• Mulligan's Pub (Midtown East) — Madison Avenue corner pub with strong weekday happy hour and late-night Irish bar food.
• The Brazen Tavern (Hell's Kitchen) — two-floor tavern, outdoor seating, solid Irish menu.
• Playwright Celtic Pub (Midtown West) — four floors of sports bar with a roof deck. Best for a large group needing a base.
• Gabby O'Hara's (Midtown) — classic Irish pub for shepherd's pie and a Guinness without paying tourist prices.

Beyond Manhattan — Brooklyn and Queens

This guide is currently Manhattan-heavy because the Manhattan Irish-pub scene is the deepest concentration on Craic Map today. Brooklyn and Queens have long-running Irish-American institutions worth a visit — and we're actively adding them to the directory. A few names every NYC Irish-pub regular knows:

• Farrell's Bar & Grill (Park Slope, Brooklyn) — open since 1933, one of the city's oldest still-running working-class Irish-American bars. Famously fought to remain men-only for decades; ended its men-only policy in 1969 after a campaign by activist Shirley Chisholm.
• Donovan's Pub (Woodside, Queens) — Irish-American family-run, long-rated one of the best pub burgers in the outer boroughs.
• The Stout Brothers, Hartley's, and similar Brooklyn holdouts — the outer-borough Irish scene has its own character: less polished, more genuinely neighbourhood-bound, often Irish-owned for two or three generations.

If you know an Irish pub in Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, or Staten Island we should be listing, drop it at craicmap.ie/submit — we'll verify and add it.

Best Irish pub crawl routes in NYC

If you want to hit several pubs in one night, the densest walkable Manhattan Irish-pub clusters are in three neighbourhoods. Each works as a self-contained route — none requires the subway between stops.

East Village crawl

Start at McSorley's (15 E 7th St) for a pair of their ales. Walk three blocks south to Swift Hibernian Lounge (34 E 4th St) for an Irish whiskey and, on Sundays, the long-running trad session. Two stops, under ten minutes between them, both well-rated, both genuinely local.

Financial District crawl

Best for visitors staying near Wall Street or the 9/11 Memorial. Start at O'Hara's (120 Cedar St) for the 9/11 context and a properly poured pint. Walk south to Ryan Maguire's (28 Cliff St) for a quieter mid-evening pace, then continue to The Dead Rabbit (30 Water St) for an Irish coffee or a cocktail to finish. Total walking: roughly 15 minutes across three stops.

Midtown / Times Square pre-theatre crawl

Designed for a pint before an 8pm Broadway show. Start at Connolly's (121 W 45th St) for the early-evening Midtown crowd, then walk two blocks north to The Mean Fiddler (266 W 47th St) for the Times Square Manhattan Irish-bar atmosphere. If you're heading to a Knicks or Rangers game instead, swap the second stop for Tír na Nóg (254 W 31st St) by Madison Square Garden.

Where to go for what

• Most history: McSorley's (1854) or The Landmark Tavern (1868)
• Best cocktails: The Dead Rabbit — widely rated the top cocktail bar housed inside an Irish pub globally
• Best Guinness in NYC: McSorley's for tradition, The Dead Rabbit for careful Guinness service, or O'Hara's for a no-frills properly-poured pint
• Best for sports: Connolly's, Tír na Nóg, or Playwright Celtic Pub (four floors of screens)
• Best for a quiet pint: Molly's Shebeen or Swift Hibernian Lounge
• Best for big groups: Playwright Celtic Pub or Connolly's
• Best late-night base: Tír na Nóg or The Mean Fiddler

Frequently asked about Irish pubs in New York City

What's the oldest Irish pub in NYC?

McSorley's Old Ale House, open since 1854. It's widely regarded as both the oldest Irish pub and the oldest continuously-operating saloon in New York City. The Landmark Tavern (1868) is the next-oldest pub still trading as an Irish bar.

Which NYC Irish pub has the best Guinness?

It's a subjective call, and locals disagree. The pubs that come up most often in NYC Guinness debates are McSorley's (long-running, tradition-driven), The Dead Rabbit (widely praised for the quality of its pour), and O'Hara's (no-frills, properly poured). The Dead Rabbit's Irish coffee is also famous in its own right.

Which NYC Irish pubs have live music?

Connolly's has live music several nights a week (Irish trad on Sundays in the past, plus broader rock/blues mid-week). Swift Hibernian Lounge runs a long-standing Sunday trad session. For dedicated Irish-music venues, schedules change — call ahead. Several Midtown and Times Square pubs (The Mean Fiddler, Playwright Celtic Pub) lean more toward DJs and sports than live trad.

Are NYC Irish pubs actually Irish-owned?

Some are, many aren't. The ones with the clearest Irish operating history include McSorley's (continuously Irish-American owned since the 19th century), The Dead Rabbit (founded by Belfast natives Sean Muldoon and Jack McGarry), Molly's Shebeen (Irish-American family), and Swift Hibernian Lounge (founded by Irish immigrants in 1995). Some chain-style Midtown pubs are corporate-owned with Irish branding rather than Irish operating history — the listings on Craic Map flag what we can verify.

Where do New Yorkers actually drink on St Patrick's Day?

NYC's St Patrick's Day parade dates to 1762 and is widely regarded as the world's oldest St Patrick's Day parade, with 150,000-plus marchers along Fifth Avenue. For drinking, the locals tend to avoid the most touristy spots — McSorley's gets crushed but keeps serving through it, while Midtown Irish bars near the parade route (Connolly's, The Mean Fiddler) hit very large crowds. Many Irish-Americans drift to neighbourhood pubs instead — Molly's Shebeen, Swift Hibernian, and the Brooklyn institutions like Farrell's — for a quieter take on the day. Several pubs run reservation-only formats.

What's the difference between a NYC Irish bar and a Dublin pub?

NYC Irish bars are typically louder, larger, more food-focused, and more centred on TV sports than their Dublin counterparts. Dublin pubs are smaller, more conversation-led, with trad-music sessions as the dominant live-music format. The closest NYC pub to a Dublin one in feel is probably Molly's Shebeen, with its sawdust floor and wood-burning fireplace. The Dead Rabbit, by contrast, is a uniquely New York invention — an Irish pub sensibility rebuilt as a world-class cocktail bar.

Looking for more

Last reviewed: May 2026.

For the full New York list (46 verified pubs and counting), see our New York city guide. For the wider scene, browse Irish Pubs in the United States or read The Best Irish Pubs in Dublin for the source country itself. Found a pub we missed in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, or Staten Island? Submit it at craicmap.ie/submit.