PHOENIX — St. Patrick’s Day celebrations were modified due to COVID-19, but people were still able to find the taste of Ireland across the Valley on Wednesday.
Maricopa County has 3rd-highest Irish population, U.S. Census Bureau shows
The U.S. Census Bureau statistics show that Maricopa County has about 358,000 people that have an Irish heritage.
The county is third in the nation behind Los Angeles, California, and Cook County, Illinois, which includes the Chicago area.
But Irish pub owners in the Valley say you don’t have to be Irish to mark the occasion.
“Everyone’s Irish today,” Matt Brennan, general manager at Fibber Magees said.
COVID-19 precautions bring smaller events
From Scottsdale to Glendale and Chandler, hundreds of people showed up at Irish pubs to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.
However, COVID-19 kept the events smaller.
In Chandler at Fibber Magees, Brennan said they decided not to do their large event that typically takes up the entire shopping center parking lot.
Instead, they just expanded their patio space a bit to allow for social distancing.
“Keeping it safe, keeping it COVID friendly,” Brennan said.
At Clancy’s Pub in Scottsdale, they used their parking lot to fence off an area to make their celebrations COVID compliant.
At Padre Murphy’s in Glendale, patrons were able to pick a spot inside or outside on the patio for their 2021 St. Patrick’s Day.
In 2020, previous owners of Padre Murphy’s planned to continue their big event under a tent as COVID started spreading.
“They’re making us play indoors, so we’re having Irish music and it’s going really well today,” Larry Delaney, the owner, said.
FROM WFAA IN DALLAS:
