Birmingham has the most Irish pubs in England - more than any other city - it’s official

With the annual St Patrick’s Day celebrations underway, Birmingham has been named the ‘Greenest City in England’ for being home to the most Irish pubs.

New research has found that Birmingham has 23 Irish pubs per square mile - more than Liverpool, Manchester and London.

And looking at the wider UK - including Scotland and Wales, but excluding Northern Ireland, Birmingham is only beaten by Edinburgh and Glasgow - with the Scottish capital boasting 36 Irish pubs per square mile - and Glasgow having 24 Irish pubs per square mile.

St Patrick’s Day celebrations have already begun in Birmingham with a community St Patrick’s Day Parade held at Cannon Hill Park on Sunday attended by 500 people, including Leon Durac, First Secretary for the Irish Embassy. Pubs across the Irish Quarter in Digbeth also held a host of Parade Day Parties attended by thousands and are hosting events booked throughout the week.

There’s a special showing of the Banshees of Inisherin with The Old Crown and Mockingbird Cinema in the Custard Factory tonight (Tuesday, March 14) with funds being raised for the Birmingham Irish Association, which is the new custodian of the Parade, which attracted 80,000 each year before the pandemic.

Villa legend Paul McGrath will be giving a talk at the Old Library at the Custard Factory on Thursday, March 16 - another event organised with the Old Crown. Norton’s Irish Bar on Meriden Street is holding a mass with Father Fr Gerard Kelly and Our Lady’s School Choir on the morning of March 17.

There’s a chance to win a trip to teh Emerald Isle at O’Neills on Broad Street. The competition to win a trip for two to Dublin is available at the St Pat’s phone box inside the bar and they’re giving away free pints to anyone named Patrick or Patricia until Thursday March 16.

How many Irish Pubs are there in Cities across England, Scotland and Wales?

Here’s the top 10 cities in Great Britain (excluding Northern Ireland) with the most Irish pubs - and the number per square mile:

1. Edinburgh - 36
2. Glasgow - 24
3. Birmingham - 23
4. Liverpool - 18
5. Brighton - 11
6. Leeds - 10
7. Cardiff - 10
8. Manchester 9
9. London - 8
10. Bristol - 7

The research showing the popularity of Irish pubs in Birmingham, undertaken on behalf of  Buzz Casino, looked at pubs per square mile from the city centres of each respective city.

In the event of two cities having the same number of pubs per square mile, it was then determined by the Average Total Search Volume. Yelp.com was used to determine the pubs per square mile from each city centre within a one-mile walking distance radius.

All search volume totals were collected from Keyworldtool using keywords “Irish Pub” followed by each individual city. The Average Search volume was taken between March 2022 and March 2023. Cities in Ireland were not considered in the data.