Irish Bars in Central America: Where to Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day

If you’re in Central America searching for a place to wet your whistle this St. Patrick’s Day, look no further. Here are five Irish bars in Central America to celebrate in 2025 (plus honorary Irish places for the day in Belize and Nicaragua).

Are you in Central America looking for a place to tie one on and celebrate this weekend? If you’re Irish, you might well be. This coming Monday is St. Patrick’s Day, the celebration of all things Irish. And I know I said Monday, which obviously isn’t the weekend. But it’s the weekend when most of the festivities will fly. Many bars in Central America actually close on Mondays (unless they’re in a tourist area, obviously).

The Evolution of St. Patrick’s Day

Once upon a time, St. Paddy’s Day – and yes, it’s “Paddy’s” NOT “Patty’s“, as many Americans miscall it – was primarily a religious and cultural festival. Now, amid some consternation, it’s associated with drinking. We’ve spoken quite a lot about stereotypes here, and the devolvement of St. Patrick’s Day into a booze-fest because the Irish typically “like a drink or two” is something many Irish have mixed feelings about. It’s understandable.

But the St. Patrick’s Day drinking tradition has historical roots, believe it or not. March 17th normally falls during Lent. Back in the day, Ireland observed Lent with fasting and no drinking. St. Patrick’s Day provided a one-day time out from that, a day when the church allowed you to let your hair down, eat something, and have a pint.

And so it snowballed from there.

Nowadays, everyone treats St. Patrick’s Day as a day to drink, no matter how tenuous their Irish roots might be. If you can’t beat them you might as well join them, right?

Irish Connections in Central America

So what do you do if you’re in Central America on St. Patrick’s Day?

Central America doesn’t have a large Irish diaspora, unlike elsewhere in the world. It’s true many Irish came over to Latin America with the Spanish in colonial times, and thrived. A man called Bernardo O’Higgins was the first ruler of an independent Chile.

If people still used phone books, they’d see plenty of listings starting with O’ in Chile, Argentina, and elsewhere in South America. But not so much in Central America, which was always a backwater under the Spanish. No big Irish diaspora here. No Irish pub on every corner selling Guinness.

Irish Pubs in Central America

That all said, Central America didn’t escape the boom in Irish bars that exploded around the world in the 90s and early 2000s. And while we’re the first to admit that most Irish bars in Central America are not authentic, meaning they’re not owned and ran by actual Irish people, they can still provide a good time, especially on St. Paddy’s Day.

So whether you’re as green-eyed and Irish as the River Shannon itself, whether you’re a plastic Paddy who thinks they’re Irish, or whether you have no connection with Ireland whatsoever and just love the craic, here are a few Irish bars in Central America you can enjoy over the St Patrick’s day celebrations and also the rest of the year.

Craic Irish Pub, San Jose, Costa Rica

San Jose, Costa Rica has a real dearth of Irish pubs. A few have come and gone over the years, but Craic Irish Pub in La Cali endures. Their St. Paddy’s Day party is actually on Saturday the 15th, giving you Sunday to enjoy your hangover before finding someplace else to drink on the 17th (they’ll be closed that day because Monday).

Murphy’s Pub & Restaurant, Panama City, Panama

I remember when there was a handful of Irish pubs in Panama City, Panama. Never many, no, but a couple. Guess the pandemic nixed everything. There’s still one savior of all things Irish in Panama, though. And that’s Murphy’s Pub on Via Argentina, which, as always, is one of the best parts of Panama City to be out and about in. Not sure what they’re actually doing this weekend or on the Big Day itself, but something will be going on.

Republik Bar, San Salvador, El Salvador

Situated in the Zone Rosa, Republik offers live music most nights and a great party vibe like you were in Dublin’s Temple Bar district itself and not in El Salvador. It’s always St. Paddy’s Day here, and this Saturday they’re celebrating with Irish and Brit Rock tunes in the afternoon followed by live rock en español at night.

McAllister’s Irish Pub, Tegucigalpa, Honduras

One wouldn’t usually associate Tegucigalpa, Honduras, with anything remotely Irish. But McAllister’s gets rave reviews and is one of the city’s favorite watering holes. Of all the Irish bars in all of Central America, this one is probably the most established, and they’re celebrating St. Paddy all month long with green beers. They say the fish and chips here are to die for, so that’s reason alone to drop by anytime. Oh yeah – If you wear green to their party on Saturday, you get your first shot for free.

The Snug, Antigua, Guatemala

Jamesons, Guinness, Irish stew, and music. There’s not much more Irish than that, and The Snug has it all. If you’re in Antigua, Guatemala, you know where you should be heading this weekend and beyond. They always do something, like offering free breakfasts to early arrivers and drinks deals of some sort or another. Most people we know who live in Antigua swear by this place year-round, and if you seek some Paddy’s Day shenanigans, look no further than The Snug.

Honorary Irish Celebrations

The bars listed above in Costa Rica, Panama, El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala are really the best of what’s here when it comes to proper Irish pubs. But that doesn’t stop the Paddy’s Day fun elsewhere around the region:

Social Pool & Patio, San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua

Like Panama, I remember Irish pubs in Nicaragua. It might seem strange now, but there used to be a true Irish pub in Granada, on the Calle Calzada, and another couple scattered around the town. I also remember a place in quite a rough part of Managua with an interesting back story involving The Troubles (I’ll say no more). Those days are gone, though. Long gone.

But… if you’re in San Juan del Sur looking for the craic, than the Social Pool & Patio will have a party on… wait for it… Monday the 17th! Yes, they’re actually celebrating St. Paddy’s Day on St. Paddy’s Day! Love it. Expect live music and drinks promos. As we said, this isn’t an Irish bar but who cares, right?

Nauti Crab, San Pedro, Belize

Feel like celebrating your Paddy’s Day with a slice of Caribbean island vibe? Well, if you’re in San Pedro, Belize, head over to the Nauti Crab on Monday. They’re having a special St. Patrick’s Day spread with themed drinks and a party vibe. It’s their biggest event of the year. Again, not an Irish bar and again, who cares?

Final Thoughts

By this stage you might have already started drinking – after all, it’s Tuesday!

Maybe you’re in one of the Irish bars in Central America or maybe you’re creating your own craic somewhere else. Wherever you are and whatever you’re doing over the St. Patrick’s celebrations, have a good one.

Sláinte! Salud! Cheers!

James Dyde is the editor of CentralAmerica.com. He lives in Escazu, Costa Rica.