In more than two decades spent working in Irish pubs, Conor Wylie has found there’s a golden rule for how to run a good St Patrick’s Day.
“Make sure you have enough kegs,” he says. “It is a long day.”
As the publican of Melbourne’s newest Irish pub, the Harp and Hound in Queen Street, Wylie ordered 110 kegs, 50 of them containing Guinness stout, for its opening day on Tuesday.
Irish expats and office workers along with tourists and curious passersby stepped in for a pint or four, intent on having a cracking “Paddy’s Day”.
Some people wore leprechaun hats and novelty spectacle frames, and spotted in the crowd were plaid skirts, green coats and Irish soccer jerseys.
Musician Stephen Kennedy sang folk songs like Tied Up With A Black Velvet Band, and sisters Bronagh and Emer Maguire did some Irish dancing.
Customer Luke O’Connor, from Waterford in Ireland, works in software sales near the new pub and gave the dark-wooded interior, with its plaid carpet, booths and snugs, a “chef’s kiss”.
He liked that the bar sold Ireland’s famous Tayto’s crisps. “I’m having a great time; I love it,” he said.
It’s quite a different atmosphere for the old stone building, at 131 Queen Street, than when the violent Great Bookie Robbery took place there 50 years ago.
On April 21, 1976, an armed gang stormed in and stole at least $1.3 million in bookmakers’ takings.
For its last 25 years, until December, the space was the sports-focused Turf Bar.
Wylie said the Harp and Hound would remain a place to drink with friends and watch sport at times, but it would also host live bands, trivia nights and Irish dancing and language classes.
The kitchen will serve meals such as Irish stew and colcannon — an Irish mashed potato dish.
The Harp part of the pub’s name comes from the musical symbol of Ireland, Wylie said.
The Hound part comes from Wylie’s home town of Limavady, in Northern Ireland.
Limavady is an anglicised version of the Gaelic phrase leim an mhadaidh, meaning “leap of the dog”.
According to legend, a wolfhound belonging to a chieftain named O’Cahan once jumped over the River Roe to get help after enemies attacked Limavady.
On St Patrick’s Day in 2026, the Irish Times pub in Little Collins Street, around the corner from the Harp and Hound, was heaving with punters.
Upstairs, toes were tapping and the vibe was merry as Tim Scanlan on guitar and harmonica and Mana Okubo on fiddle belted out folk song Whiskey in the Jar.
Downstairs, customer Niamh Masterson-Smith, who moved to Melbourne from Dublin seven years ago, was holding her baby, Beauden. “It’s his first St Patrick’s Day,” she said.
Beauden was dressed in a bright green top and pants and wore a ribbon necklace the colours of the Irish flag.
The outfit and the necklace had been delivered on Monday from Masterson-Smith’s mother in Ireland. “I was homesick when I opened the package,” Masterson-Smith said. “I burst out crying.”
“Today I’m just delighted to be here.”
Her friend Amy O’Brien, from Naas in Kildare, said they felt compelled to go out to mark Ireland’s national day.
“I feel like if you’re away you have to celebrate it a bit more,” O’Brien said.
Masterson-Smith agreed: “If you’re away you feel a bit more patriotic,” she said. “Your blood runs greener.”
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