Old Portland/New Portland St. Patrick’s Day Trail
PDX HIBERNIAN INDEPENDENT 12 March 2026
More than an email. Less than a newspaper. Weekly newsletter of the Portland Hibernian Society. Delivered every Thursday.
Saint Patrick’s Day 2026 Advance Edition
Friends of Peter Cullen are invited to a Celebration of Life at the Irish Potato Famine Memorial at Mount Calvary Cemetery in Portland at Ten A.M. Tuesday March 17 – Saint Patrick’s Day. Peter passed away last week. You can read here about a life more than well-lived. Because Peter played such a key role in the development of our Famine Memorial, we’re asking you to share your stories about building the Memorial at Tuesday’s gathering. Please bring green flowers.
Old Portland/New Portland Saint Patrick’s Day Trail
Starting from the Hibernian High Cross, here’s a tour of historic local Irish institutions and one event for Tuesday March 17. Some are Old Portland, dating to the 19th and 20th centuries. Some are New Portland, products of the 21st century.The Oregon Potato Famine Memorial and Cross of the Scriptures are New Portland, dedicated in 2008 but based on a Tenth Century Celtic High Cross. Less than three months after it was dedicated on a brutally cold December afternoon, Willamette Week ran an article called Saint Patrick The Somber. “... there is one very good way to mark St. Patrick's Day in Portland. That is to take a bottle of Irish whiskey up to Mount Calvary Cemetery and discreetly sip it in the shadow of the giant Celtic cross standing just south of West Burnside.” The article by Martin Cizmar is surprisingly informative about the devastation caused by An Gorta Mor. Know the neighborhood: Here’s an article Hibernian Daniel Curran penned for the Oregon Historical Society on the history of Mounty Calvary Cemetery.
New Portland in NW Portland
Father and Son - Gerard and Garrett McAleese
Head east on West Burnside from Mt. Calvary to Kells Brewery at 210 NW 21st. Opened in 2012, this place is Definitely New Portland but with a parent pub that’s Old Portland. Doors open at 11:30 on the 17th with music, dancing and a cover charge all day. If it was me, I’d get there early with some mates and grab a snug just like the ones at the Crown Bar in Belfast. They’re legendary replicas, like the Hibernian High Cross up the hill. TIP – At 4PM Cary Novotny and his band Cul an Ti will play the Irish standards you’ll be singing along with (but not too loudly, please).
Irish in the Eighties
Partners - Doug Schmick and Bill McCormick
For old time's sake, less than a mile away, you’ll find Jakes Famous Crawfish, founded in 1892 by Jacob “Jake” Feiman. So, what makes Jakes an Irish institution in Portland? Before there was original Kells, Jakes was the place to celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day with a cast of Old Portland characters headed by Bill McCormick. (Bill hosted the dinner at which the initial funds were raised to build the Famine Memorial up the hill. He wrote the first check.) Things got so raucous at Jake’s in the mid-1980s, SW 12th Street was closed and a huge tent went up. Nowadays, Bill has moved to Bend and the big celebrations have moved elsewhere from SW 12th. This year there will be some “special drinks” but that’s about it. But hey, no crowds and no cover charge.
Kells came to town and captured St. Patrick's Day
Ever since Kells Brewery on NW 21st opened, we refer to Kells Irish Restaurant and Pub on SW Second as “the Mother Ship.” More than one Hibernian has gone to the Kells on NW 21st by mistake. It’s Old Portland by a decade, opening in 1990 at 112 SW Second Ave. The building’s been there since 1889. Two things: 1. Kells is in the cast-iron-constructed Glisan Building, which survived the Willamette Flooding of 1894. 2. Kells is haunted. Paddy's may bill itself as the oldest Irish pub in Portland, but Kells owns Saint Patrick’s Day week with its festival at Waterfront Park kicking off Friday, March 13. On the day itself – March 17 – forget the tent for the intimate but spacious interior of Kells. A midafternoon Guinness Zero or two would be nice while listening to Beltaine, one of dozens of local musical acts that work like rented mules around St. Patrick’s Day. The cover charge helps support your local Celtic musicians.
The Always Irish Cultural Society
The All-Ireland Cultural Society is so Old Portland that when it held its first St. Patrick’s Day event it only cost $35 to rent Norse Hall for the day. That was in 1941. War was nine months away. The AICS is still here and hosting its 85th St. Patrick’s Day shindig this year. Doors open at 3:30 PM at Aquinas Hall in NE Portland. Definitely family-friendly. So, when the Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue Pipes and Drums make the scene at 4:15, clocking the reaction of the kids is worth the cover charge. If you miss the TVF&R roving musicians at AICS, you can catch them at several other venues. Click here for their schedule and the story behind the band.
T.C. O'Leary's is what an Irish pub ought to be
Publican - Tom O'Leary
Since you’re in the neighborhood – Aquinas Hall is less than three miles from NE 28th and Alberta – check out the New Portland Irish pub that is more like an Olde Irish pub than any other in town – T.C. O’Leary’s. If you’re allergic to the Cover Charge, you can enjoy the friendly confines of Tom and Siobhan’s public house from 7AM (Irish coffees served) until Noon. Cover applies the rest of the day. The award-winning Irish dancers from the Yeates Academy of Irish Dance will perform at 4:30PM. Then it’s music until 10PM.
McMenamins Kennedy School will be in session
Brothers - Mike and Brian McMenamin
If it seems like McMenamins Kennedy School, a few blocks from T.C. O’Leary’s, has been there forever, it kind of has. Well, at least since it opened as an elementary school in 1915. But only since 1997 has it been one of the McMenamins most popular outposts with hotel, pub, bar, movie theater, soaking pools, etc. Clan McMenamin is Irish American royalty in Portland. The grandfather of the brothers McMenamin fought for Irish freedom. The family was an early financial supporter of the Famine Memorial. Both facts matter on St. Patrick’s Day. T.C. O’Leary’s can get crowded but there’s room to stretch out (or even book a room) at the Kennedy School. (Not sure about cover charge policy.)
If you want to leave the driving to someone else
The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) is offering discounts on taxi, Lyft, and Uber rides as part of its Safe Ride Home program. Coupons are valid for rides starting in the Portland city limits daily from Friday, March 13 to Tuesday, March 17, from 6 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. each night. Taxi rides: Visit Kells Portland Irish Festival on the waterfront March 13 through March 17 and ask an employee for a paper taxi coupon good for up to $20 off one ride. Simply give the paper coupon to your taxi driver.
Then there's Heppner, Oregon
This year’s Welly Toss at the 43rd Annual Wee Bit O' Ireland Celebration in Heppner starts at Ten AM Saturday March 14. The Welly Toss is an Irish country tradition based on throwing Wellington boots as far as possible. In Heppner, there are just as many cowboy boots and galoshes tossed. This could be part of a family expedition you will look back on 25 years from now and laugh about. The highlight of the day is the Great Green Parade and a performance by the Blue Mountain Old Time Fiddlers (2:30-4:30 p.m.). Directions: head east on I-84 to the Boardman/Irrigon area, then south on Highway 74 through Ione into Heppner. Old Oregon? New Oregon? Timeless Oregon!
Looking Back: Photographs from Hibernian Banquet 2026
There are thousands of banquets being held around the world this month of March 2026 with the same theme: Hail glorious Saint Patrick….in so many words. Portland is no exception. Hibernian Colleen Schultz shared these photographs from the 26th Annual Portland Hibernian Saint Patrick’s Day Banquet upstairs at (Old) Kells Saturday, March 7.
We're always looking to sign up new members. So please share this with anyone you know who might want to know more about Saint Patrick's Day in Portland.....and Heppner.
There won't be a Portland Hibernian Society meeting on the Third Thursday of March. See you on April 16.