The energy never stops in one of the city’s favourite pubs
The energy never stops in one of the city’s favourite pubs
A truly authentic Irish pub in the heart of Liverpool city centre is preparing for its biggest day of the year. Pogue Mahone is lively even when the surrounding area is quiet, but when St Patrick’s Day arrives, it feels as though the whole of Ireland has come to visit.
The Seel Street pub has seen many changes since first opening decades ago. Known as Doctor Duncan’s in the 80s, the venue was renamed Pogue Mahone in 1997 under Enterprise Taverns – a moniker that translates from Irish to “kiss my arse.”
Two decades later, regulars were shocked when news broke that the pub would be closing at the end of its lease. Just a few months afterwards, local publican Mike Girling stepped in to save the venue, giving it a fresh revamp and a new lease of life. In 2020, Pogue Mahone changed hands once again and is now operated by DGB Hospitality.
Sean Singleton, marketing manager of DGB Hospitality, told the ECHO: “When we took it over, it was a bit rough around the edges, but it was always a bit of a city staple and had a loyal crowd.
“We freshened it up, put more effort into the interior, and really leaned into making it a lively place for live music. That’s what it’s known for now – a great atmosphere and somewhere people come specifically for the music.”
Pogue Mahone has never been short of customers. Patrons fill the pub throughout the day and by night there’s barely room to enter as people pour out of the front door and onto the street. St Patrick’s Day is one of the few calendar dates patrons in their thousands swarm pubs from open until close, but it’s business as normal for the team.
Sean said: “Because we open from midday and stay open very late, especially on weekends, the energy never really stops. From the moment we open, it’s busy. The craic is always good and there’s just loads of energy in the place.
“It’s actually quite hard to describe the typical crowd because it’s really wide-ranging. People just seem to love the place, so it attracts all sorts of people. You’ll have parties, the older regulars, and you’ll have younger groups coming in for the music. It’ s pretty open to everyone.”
Planning for St Patrick’s day is earlier than you’d expect – December, in fact. Sean added: “That’s when we start organising the music, booking the right acts, and getting the staff ready. Sometimes we even borrow staff from our other venues earlier in the week just to cope with the demand and make sure everything is perfect.
“On St Patrick’s Day, we can easily have three times as many guests as normal, maybe even more. There’s so much preparation that goes into it. We also change a lot of the beer lines. I think we have about four Guinness lines running, and around 10 taps in total.
“It’s all about keeping up with the demand. Once the shift is over there’s definitely a sense of relief. Everyone’s a bit more relaxed and congratulating each other that we made it through.”
Pogue Mahone is one of the best places to be in the entire country for a Guinness, so says the first-ever Harp Guide celebrating serving a truly “perfect pint.” Each pub was selected not only for consistently pouring an excellent Guinness, but also for its warm welcome, great service, lively atmosphere, and genuine love of the stout.
St Patrick’s Day lands on a Tuesday this year, which has thrown a spanner into the works of all day drinkers. Although the spanner isn’t big enough to call off the celebrations entirely, it acts as an arguable safety net for what would’ve been 72 hours of non-stop partying.
Sean said: “When it falls on a Friday or Saturday it’s non-stop all weekend. Hopefully we’ll still see a great turnout this year. There’s loads happening like the Six Nations rugby, football on the screens, and we’ve got live music every day leading up to St Patrick’s Day. It’s definitely going to be busy.”
The team at the heart of Pogue Mahone is what keeps sprits in high regards no matter the day, weather of celebration. If it weren’t for them, the atmosphere wouldn’t be as welcoming as patrons have come to love.
Sean said: “The team is definitely close-knit. A lot of the staff have been here for years. Dean Murphy, or Dino, has been here for about six years. He’s kind of the life of the place. He really lives and breathes it and knows exactly how it should feel on a busy night.
“Even when the street is quiet, you can usually rely on us to be busy.”
